Thorn of a Rose
by Kat.Bites
Summary: sequel to love will tear us apart.
1. prolague

**PROLAGUE**

Gerard woke up the sleeping little Rose, now four years old, at close to one AM. She could barely open her eyes

"Daddy what's going on?" she asked, in a voice so soft an innocent only she could have. Gerard bent down and gently lifted her from her bed. He was dressed in a few layers more than was necessary for walking around the house. He walked over to her closet quickly with Rose in his arms and grabbed an extra fleece blanket from the top shelf. It was Rose's favorite blanket. After her mother had died, Gerard took a picture of Kayla and sent it to someone who was able to stitch her image onto the blanket. Gerard ran with Rose wrapped in the blanket, up the stairs and into the kitchen where Frank, Bob, Ray, and Mikey were waiting by the sliding screen door that led into the backyard. Frank had set up some chairs outside with blankets on each, it was late November after all, and they all went outside, bundled up and sat in chairs. Rose was still confused

"Daddy what are we doing? I'm sleepy. It's cold out here. I want to go back to bed." Gerard ignored his daughter's whines and sat down on a chair, with her on his lap. He covered the two of them in the Kayla blanket and he tilted Rose's chin to the clear night sky. Earlier that night Gerard had been looking up at the sky through his bedroom window, thinking about Kayla. It was the five-year anniversary of when he had proposed to Kayla and he just couldn't sleep. He'd noticed suddenly a white streak flash through the sky, then another, then another. He realized that there was a meteor shower and knew he had to wake up the guys and Rose to watch this. But back to outside. Gerard tilted Rose's chin to the November night sky and pointed to the streaks as they flew by.

"See those Rosie?" he asked, in his "talking to my daughter here!" voice. "See those? Do you know what those are?" Rose shook her head no, a look of awe and amazement in her eyes. "Those are stars. Stars flying right out of the sky. Wherever they fall, another perfect baby is born. And guess what Rosie!" he turned her to face him. "You were one of those stars. You're my perfect baby girl. You're still glowing like those stars. You glow every time you smile, every time you laugh. And I promise you I'm never going to let you stop glowing. And I'll never have to help it glow as long as you just be you forever. Okay baby?" Rose didn't quite understand what her father was asking of her, but she nodded and snuggled against her father's chest, soaking in his warmth. She remembered falling asleep watching the falling stars while Gerard rubbed her back, lulling her to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Dad!" screamed Rose, running up the stairs. "DAD!" she screamed louder when she got no response. She came running up the stairs in a pair of dark blue flare jeans with a dark washed out red t-shirt that was darker around the collar and ends of the sleeves. Over the t-shirt, she had a black zip up Underoath hoodie on, dangling off her shoulder in her rush. She ripped open all the cabinet doors in the kitchen and grabbed a juice box and a granola bar. She ran to the door and grabbed her Invader Zim messenger bag as Gerard came up the stairs, still in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes.

"Your school starts too early." he said with a scratchy throat. "I mean, you have to be at school before I normally wake up!" Rose rolled her eyes and pushed her hair out of her face to reveal two heavily makeuped eyes.

"See you after school okay Dad?" she said, pushing her I-pod headphones into her ears and waving as she shut the door behind her. As soon as she walked down the driveway, her smile faded. _School. _She thought to herself. _Jail, torture cell, wow, all one and the same I think. _She laughed a little and flicked her I-pod to an old fall out boy song. She couldn't believe she was listening to "Homesick at Space Camp", a 2003 release, and this was what? 2025. Living in the past was all she ever liked to do. I mean her sweatshirt: FUCKING UNDEROATH! They had broken up almost six years before. Her outdated band shirts from her mother were what made her the butt of so many jokes at school. _School_. She thought again, and pulled her hood over her head against the November morning chill.

"Hey look it's the Chemical Romance gone wrong!" said a boy as Rose walked into homeroom. That's what they called her. As she took her seat in the back of the room, she thought about how stupid that nickname was. I mean, so perverted. _I am the child of a chemical romance gone wrong. The romance got pregnant The romance had me.. Wow. Nice. Mature. _She thought to herself for the millionth day in a row. You would think they would accept her if not respect her. Rose was the only one who had actually been going to the same damn school district since kindergarten. Everyone who was in the school that day had come at fifth grade or later. Her old friends all moved out of district after the shooting at occurred at the middle school a few years before. A girl died. Rose drifted off in thought until she heard the teacher clear his throat

"Ehem. Ms. WAY!" said Mr. Allen curtly. Rose snapped her head off her hand and looked at him. "If you would be so kind as to take a break from your obviously important daydreaming to take out your homework..." he said, every hint of sarcasm in his voice. She pulled her binder out of her bag and set it on the desk. She took a few seconds to admire her own artwork on the cover; falling stars, some in clusters that had letters. Mostly they spelled "Kayla". She could not explain why, but something about shooting stars made her very happy for some reason. She hesitantly opened the binder and turned to the literature questions from the night before.

When she heard the end of school bell, Rose ran like hell to her locker. She threw other people out of the way to get to that little 5'x1' metal box she called home for seven hours a day. She pulled out the binder and two textbooks she needed, shoved them into her bag and ran out of the school. Once she had gotten a block or two away from the building she let herself stop running and sat down on the curb for a moment catching her breath. For all the running she did everyday, you would think she was skinny as a rail, but in reality, Rose was a little overweight. Not like, vastly much, but enough to get a fat joke here and there. Rose's breathing finally returned to normal and she pulled her I-pod out of her back pocket. She figured she had no one to impress, so she turned on some My Chemical Romance. "Headfirst for Halos" was her favorite.

_Now the red ones help me fly, and the blue ones make me fall, and I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling..._

She closed her eyes and just listened to the song. Her eyes snapped open as she heard laughter and footsteps coming her way down the sidewalk. She recognized the voices as those of four boys in her math class; Joey, Max, Travis, and Vincent. Rose put her palm to the curb and pushed herself up. She crossed the street quickly and walked slow. She was not about to look afraid of these guys. She put her I-pod on pause, hoping to catch a sound of what they were saying. All she heard was "blah blah blah". They were too far away. Then she heard her name. Well, her nickname.

"Hey look, its chemical romance gone wrong!" Rose thought it was Vincent who said it.

"Hey emo!" chimed in Max. "Hey freak I'm talking to you!" Rose refused to look up. _Just keep your eyes on your shoes, put them one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other._ she told herself. Then something hit her hard in the back, causing her to bend back in pain. Tears filled her eyes in a combination of physical and emotional pain once she realized that one of the boys had thrown a rock at her. Suddenly another, larger rock hit her in the back of the leg. She could hear laughter as they watched her double over every time they hit a new mark. Three more rocks were thrown, one at her arm, another at her back, and a small one hit the side of her head before she realized she had to run away. Her bag was heavy and smacked against her now bruised leg, but she ran like crazy anyway. Then she heard heavy footsteps behind her. _Oh my God they're chasing me._ She thought panicked. She looked around for an escape, then she heard a bell, the elementary school just let out. She ran over and in through the front doors and watched them get lost in the crowd of first graders and their parents. Once they gave up and left Rose went back outside and walked as fast as she could back home.

Walking back through the door of her house Rose found Mikey and Bob sitting on the couch, watching television. Mikey looked up and smiled.

"How was your day Rosie?" he asked. Mikey was more of a best friend than an actual uncle to Rose. He always insisted on calling her Rosie, said it was more fun to say. Rose rolled her eyes, she didn't really like it when he called her that. She was about to tell him she had a great day before realizing that her hoodie was now covering up large bruises. She paused and said

"My day was...normal. Nothing interesting, nothing out of the ordinary." she went past them into the kitchen and down the stairs, not feeling bad because it was not like she had lied to Mikey.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

That night Rose stood in her room in her underwear, surveying the bruises across her back and legs. They were a deep shade of purple, almost black, with blue and pink tinted edges. Rose was only glad it was a Friday, because it hurt to move now and she would not be able to tackle a school day the next day. She slid into green and black plaid pajama pants and a pink tank top and lay down gingerly in her bed. She fell asleep almost instantly, so tired from all the running. She wondered why, if she could run away from Vince, Max, Travis, and Joey, then why couldn't she just run away from everything? Why couldn't she just escape somewhere for a while? She didn't want to leave her dad behind, or her uncles, (Mikey was of course really her uncle, but since all of MCR are like brothers, Rose also conceders Ray, Bob, and Frank as her uncles too) but she did wish there was some way she could just, get out. Suddenly Rose wanted to cry. She didn't, but she wanted to...

At school that Monday, Rose went to the office during lunch, while all the other kids were in the cafeteria. No one would see her last minute entry and no one would give her grief for it. She walked into the main office just as the secretary was taking down the sign up list for the talent show.

"Wait!" said Rose. "Can I sign up?" she asked, pulling a pen out from behind her ear.

"Of course." said the secretary with a cold well-paid smile. Rose smiled and placed her name down on the sheet. There was no audition necessary for the talent show, it wasn't a contest, it was more of a showcase. Just a bunch of acts after another on a platform in the cafeteria. She went back to the cafeteria to get some lunch. She walked into the cafeteria and got on the line. Walking down the isle through the shelves of food, she picked out a bagel, some cream cheese, and a Snapple iced tea. She left two dollars on the counter and walked out, heading for the courtyard. Rose slowed her step for a minute, admiring some of the painting she had done on the walls of the cafeteria, she didn't notice as she walked right into a girl heading her way. Spaghetti and tomato sauce flew out of the girl's tray and onto Rose's pale grey shirt. Well, now it was a very ugly shade of grayish brown. Rose looked up at the girl she had walked into. She was a little taller than her, dressed in tight black denim pants with a white Casualties t-shirt under a torn denim jacket. Her hair was boy length short and was side parted, so it covered one eye. The eye she could see was covered in green shadow and purple liner. Her eyes were purple, no doubt contacts, her hair had blonde highlights that made the hair more gold than its natural dark brown. The girl rolled her eyes, let out an angry sigh, and walked back to the lunch line, giving Rose an evil look every now and then. Rose stared at her totally ruined shirt and decided she'd had enough of school for that day. She ran home, right out the door to the cafeteria. When she got home she was freezing. Apparently tomato sauce gets very cold in early December. It also didn't help that her shirt was pretty thin and she had no jacket. But when she got home she was thankful that there were no cars in the driveway, everyone must have been out somewhere. _Good_. Rose thought to herself. _Explaining this would be hard. _She went downstairs and took off her shirt right there in the laundry room and threw it in the washer. She flicked it on and went into her room to change. She put her pajama's back on and went upstairs to get a soda. She ended up getting a soda, some chips, and she was grabbing a bag of skittles when she heard

"FREEZE CLASS CUTTER! DROP THE SKITTLES AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM!" she dropped the bag on the floor, put her hands behind her head and turned around slowly, going along with the joke. She saw Mikey standing in the open door, pointing his hand at her like a gun. Rose started cracking up and Mikey dropped his hands, laughing too. But that stopped quickly as his semi-paternal instincts took over.

"What are you doing home?" he asked, serious.

"Had some trouble at school." said Rose, like it was no big deal. "Walked into a girl and ruined my shirt, got pretty embarrassed, had to come home anyway to change, didn't see a point in going back." she shrugged and walked to the living room. Mikey followed her after grabbing some skittles for himself from the kitchen. Rose flopped over the arm of the couch and Mikey sat down normally. Rose ended up sort of slumping against her uncle/best friend's arm as he channel surfed. All Rose saw was boring stuff that they only show during the day when no one is home. Eventually Rose gave up, and went downstairs to her room, grabbing a sharpie from a drawer in the kitchen. Rose's bedroom was formerly her mother Kayla's room. The walls were still lavender, still as girlie as ever. The only difference was the sharpie marker all over the walls. Whenever Rose would get bored she would draw cartoons, or write random lyrics on the wall. Gerard didn't mind, in fact he thought it was kind of cool. He and Frank occasionally were caught by Rose drawing on her walls too. She started writing the lyrics to the song "Silhouette Serenade" by Vendetta Red, the song she was singing at the talent show that night.

Rose had a migraine. She had just sat through an hour and a half of really really really bad singers and bands performing just because they thought their guitars made them all that. _Don't they realize that they SUCK?_ She wondered to herself, rubbing her temples. Then she heard her name and realized she was going up to sing. Her stomach dropped as she got onto the little stage. The audience looked much bigger from up here. She gave her guitar a strum and said into the mic

"I'm going to sing you all a song, I hope you like it." she started strumming out chords and sang as sweetly into the mic as she could. As she sang, she surveyed the people in the audience. Most of the people were people she didn't know. People who had come out to show love to their friends, some just had nothing else to do that night. She was surveying the right corner of the room when she got this odd feeling she was being stared at. Well of course she was, she was singing on stage, and pretty well I might add, why wouldn't people be staring? She turned to where she saw the pull coming from and saw a boy who looked to be in her grade, maybe a year older, but definitely not a junior. Not that old. He was wearing very tight red and black plaid pants, a black Green Day t-shirt, and a black leather jacket with a lot of chains. His eyes had a thin line of eye pencil on his top and bottom lids, and his haircut resembled that of the girl who Rose had smacked into earlier that day, just not quite as highlighted. She tried her best to ignore it and concentrate on her song, but she'd played it so many times, it was so mechanical, that she needed something else to look at, and every time her eyes came to him, his were still on her. Every now and then she'd attempt to give him a "FUCK OFF" look, but he'd just smirk and continue studying her. Rose was the last act of the night so as soon as her song was done, she shot the guy one last look, and walked right out. She'd done what she wanted to do; show the school that she could sing. She was surprised to see that at least half the kids in the audience actually seemed impressed. As Rose was walking home, she walked under a street light. She saw out of the corner of her eye, another shadow following her. She walked faster and the shadow followed faster. Rose broke out in a run and the shadow came at her even faster. Suddenly it caught up with her and she felt a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around. Lo and behold it was the kid in the leather jacket.

"Ugh. You scared the shit out of me!" she said. "What the fuck do you want?"

"You were really great in there." he said calmly. "Really you were." he added at the sight of her exasperated face. "What else do you play?" he asked. Rose was surprised. _What is this dude after?_ She wondered as she said

"Oh, I can play some Green Day, lots of My Chemical Romance, lots of stuff. You name it I can probably play it..."

"Cool, cool." he interrupted. "and your voice is incredible." he added. "so, me and some of my friends are in a band called Demolition Lovers, and we need a singer. You seem like the girl with the voice we need. Would you be interested?" Rose was surprised. This guy wanted her in a band? A band named after one of her own father's songs? Honestly, Rose liked the idea. The boy pulled a card out of one of his many pockets and handed it to her.

"Here, you think about it and call me okay?"

"Yeah okay." said Rose, looking at the card. _Josh Kramer. Bassist/Scream of Demolition Lovers._ was all it said. She flipped over the card and found his number written in pencil. When she looked up he was walking away, so off she went back home, seriously considering this.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The next morning Rose woke Gerard up early.

"Dad" she whispered, shaking him. "DAD!" she said, a little louder.

"Mmmm Rose, the fucking house had better be on fire for you to be waking me up this early." he mumbled, eyes still closed. Rose smiled

"Dad I need to ask you something. Come on wake up!" she shook him even harder. "Dad, a guy wants me to sing in his band. His name is Josh, the band is called "Demolition Lovers". Isn't that cool?" Gerard cracked one eye open to look at his daughter and smiled.

"You know I could sue their asses for copyright infringement if I wanted to." Rose laughed.

"So can I tell him yes?" she asked. Rose was a good kid, she wasn't about to go do anything music related without consulting Gerard first.

"Of course you can." said Gerard. "If someone thinks your talented enough that they want to come and ask you then of course you should. But check back with me on whose actually in that band okay?" he said. Rose smiled and stood up from where she knelt next to Gerard's bed.

"Thanks dad. I might be home a little late, they might want to meet after school, I don't really know."

"Alright well you've got your cell right?" he asked.

"Yep, don't worry about me. See you after school." she said walking out of his room. She ran up the stairs and out the front door, not bothering with breakfast or a jacket. She was too happy. She didn't even care about some of the kids she was going to have to face, she just knew that she was going to be in a band now. Singing in a band was going to be incredible, she knew that. She turned on her I-pod to an old Wakefield song and skipped and jumped the whole way to school.

Later that day Rose walked into her fifth period English class, surprised to see Josh there. Then she realized he had been there the whole year, she'd just never really noticed him before. He was still wearing that torn denim jacket, but now his pants were black and his shirt was plain white, no design. His hair was spiked in a million different directions with more product than Rose thought she had used in her entire life. She walked over to his desk and leaned across it. Josh smiled

"Have you considered my offer?" he asked.

"Yes Josh I have." Rose replied. Josh leaned eagerly closer to her, waiting for her response. "And I want to know when our first practice is." she said, smiling at his excited expression.

"YES!" he practically yelled. "Oh yeah, um." he pulled out his notebook and wrote down his address. He ripped out the paper and handed it to Rose. "We meet every other day at my place. When you get there, go through the gate into the backyard, the doors leading into the basement should be open, as long as you don't beat me to my own house. See you after school then?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah!" said Rose, smiling and pocketing the now folded paper. She walked across the room and took an empty seat. About ten minutes into the lesson, she heard giggling outside. Apparently the teacher heard it too, because she went and opened the door. When she did, a boy with what looked like almost the same outfit as Josh, fell to the ground inside the classroom. Spaghetti girl fell on top of him. They must have been leaning on the classroom door making out. _Classy. _Thought Rose sarcastically. _Making out right outside the English room. Great. _The teacher addressed the pair as they rose from the ground.

"Alex, Violet. So nice of you to join us at last." she said, hands on her hips as Violet and Alex walked to separate sides of the room. Alex took a seat two desks behind Josh. Rose looked at Josh, because he had ripped out another piece of paper and had scribbled in sharpie marker Alex's in the band

Violet's in the band (don't call her violet. call her stix)

Rose smiled and nodded, but when she went back to her notebook she was nervous. Stix was in the band? And she had to be in the same room after the spaghetti incident? This would be hard to get used to, probably harder for her than Violet.

After school Rose walked over to the address that Josh had written down. It was really far from the school and her house, in a neighborhood she barely knew. She could only think of twice she'd been here, and it was only driving through. But she found the house without a problem and followed Josh's instructions, walking through the gate into the backyard. Rose found the doors that led into the ground, and heard a loud beat thumping up from below. _Underoath._ She thought to herself. _They're playing "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door. I'm home. _She smiled and stood, listening to the sound. She heard Josh screaming, but they were silent for the actual singing parts. Rose realized that's what they needed her for. She walked down the stone stairs and into a dimly lit room. She blinked around and waited for her eyes to adjust to the light change. Rose heard someone walk behind her and close the doors into the backyard, it became even darker, but she heard more feet walk around and lights clicked on. Rose realized how big the room was. Next to her was a curtain and behind that she could see a washer/dryer area. On her other side was a curtained off area with a bed where Josh obviously slept. The rest of the room was devoted to electric cords, a T.V, a big stereo system, and lots of band equipment. Stix took her seat behind the drums and took up a random beat. It was fast paced and violent, she whacked the drumsticks against the drum, it looked like she was going to break the equipment. There were three guitars leaning on stands, two with a microphone in the front, and a third mic, father foreword, where Rose realized she was supposed to stand. She stayed where she was though, and waited for Josh to direct her. Josh stepped into her line of sight, and pointed to a boy tuning his guitar that Rose didn't know. Josh spoke

"Rose, this is Ben." he said, pointing to the boy tuning the guitar. "And you know Alex and-"

"You're Violet right?" Rose cut in, immediately realizing her mistake. _Stix you moron! You're supposed to call her Stix!_ Rose bit her lip, afraid of what Stix would do to her. She looked like she could beat the crap out of Rose if she wanted to, but Rose relaxed a little as Violet smiled. Then in a voice that was barely audible just said

"The name is Stix. If you ever call me anything other than that." she held up a drumstick. "this will go right through your skull. Hear me?" Rose gulped and nodded fervently. She knew that Vi-Stix was totally serious. "Now as long as we can remember that, we'll get along fine." added Stix. She did a few more beats on the drum then shrugged, bored, and walked over to Alex. He was standing by a mini fridge in the corner with a soda, one leg bent, foot pressed against the wall. Stix pushed his shoulders against the wall and kissed him hard. He kissed back and grabbed her ass. Ben, who was about three feet away, dropped the guitar and walked quickly to where Josh and Rose stood and the three of them just stood there and watched. Five or six minutes went by and Ben finally said

"We've officially lost them. The brain dies after a few minutes without air, someone call 911." Stix let go of Alex and looked at Ben.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a girlfriend." Rose was surprised. Ben was pretty good looking. She just naturally assumed he had a girlfriend. Ben had dark brown hair that came just past his ears. It was a dark chestnut brown and he side parted it so it fell over his right eye. His hair was tame, he didn't use anything to make it stay, it just did. It wasn't highlighted at all. He had a thin line of blue eyeliner on his top lids and his bottom rims were also lined in dark blue. He wore baggy dark blue jeans with a lot of chains and pockets. They were torn at the knees. His shirt was hot pink and said "REAL MEN WEAR PINK". Rose had seen that shirt a million times before, but it still made her laugh. Ben's skin was perfect, not a pimple or scar or cut. His fingers were calloused from guitar playing and his nails were rough and half covered in scratched black nail polish. His Vans were grey with sky blue stripes. To be honest, Rose thought Ben was hot. But she wasn't about to admit that. Her inspection of Ben was interrupted by Josh's voice.

"Okay guys can we get back to work?" he asked impatiently, directing the question more toward Alex and Stix. Alex rolled his eyes and grabbed his guitar. Ben did the same and Josh grabbed his bass. Stix sat behind the drums and Rose got behind the mic at the front of the crew. "So, Homesick At Space Camp. Know it Rose?" asked Josh.

"Hell yeah its one of my favorite Fall Out Boy songs ever!" said Rose, a little too energetically. Josh laughed

"Good, its our specialty." He plucked a note and then Stix started playing, Ben and Alex joined in. When it came time, Rose started to sing and she couldn't remember a happier time.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

A few weeks later Rose had really gotten used to being in Demolition Lovers. She and Stix got along really well now. She was always at Stix's house, sometimes until later than 10 o clock on a school night. Of course Gerard wasn't too happy about this, he thought Stix was a bad influence, but whenever he would try to reason with Rose, she would freak out and accuse him of not being used to her having friends. This forced Gerard to back off every time. He wouldn't make her unhappy. He would rather die. So they were sitting in Josh's basement with Ben and Alex, admiring Stix's self-manicure, black nails with red crosses, covered in black diamond shapes, when they heard the door to the backyard crash open. Josh came bounding down the stairs screaming

"GIG GIG GIG!" he screamed before he got all the way into the room. Stix, Alex, Rose, and Ben sat up, attention rapt.

"Did you just say gig?" asked Rose, raising her eyebrows at the out of breath and beaming Josh.

"We...have...a...gig..." said Josh, taking a deep breath between each word. "my...cousin's...wedding...next...Saturday." he said, doubled over now from the lack of oxygen. Stix laughed.

"BREATHE CHILD BREATHE!" she joked. Josh fell to the floor and eventually his breathing slowed back to normal. "So we're playing your cousin's wedding then?" she asked once he seemed back to normal. "We seriously have our first staring gig?

"Yeah. My cousin Martha is getting married next Saturday and she mentioned that she needed a band for the reception, so I said we could do it, and now we are! And my cousin is a rep for Victory Records! If she likes us, she could sign us right there!" Stix squealed and attacked Josh with a big hug. Rose smiled and joined the pair on the floor. The three of them hugged and soon Rose heard Ben scream

"DOG PILE!" and Rose was crushed under the weight of Ben and Alex. Then she heard Alex chant from the top of the pile

"WE'RE GONNA BE FAMOUS! WE'RE GONNA BE FAMOUS!" Ben joined in, then Rose, then Stix and Josh and they all sat there laughing then deciding what songs to play in their set. Josh told them they were told to play four songs. The four they settled on were "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5, "Say You Will" by Wakefield, "Blue and Yellow" by The Used, and they would finish off with "Demolition Lovers" by My Chemical Romance. They ran to their instruments and started perfecting their sound.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Josh recommended that everyone get dates for this wedding, because they were going to get to watch the service and partake in the fun of the reception when they were not performing. It went without saying that Alex and Stix would be going together, but Rose had no idea who she was going to go with. She sort of wished Ben would ask her, but she was sure he was going to go sans-date. Ben didn't seem like he needed or wanted a girlfriend, or if he did, he wasn't about to ask someone out. Rose started talking to Josh about his date.

"So. Who's the lucky girl you're taking to the wedding?" asked Rose, slumping down against the wall next to Josh, where he sat tuning his bass.

"Um...I don't think I'm going to bring anyone." he said, nervously.

"Oh. But I'm sure that tons of girls would want to go!" said Rose. He sounded almost sad.

"No...No...I shouldn't take anyone. It will just distract me you know. Having a girl there, just, no. Do we have to talk about this?" he asked Rose, looking imploringly at her. Rose was a little confused.

"No, I guess not." she said, willing to back off the subject now. Just then, Ben poked his head down the stairs. He, Alex, and Stix were upstairs in the kitchen eating all of Josh's food.

"Hey Rose, could I talk to you for a second?" he asked. Rose blushed a little and got up, leaving Josh with his bass his only company. Ben walked back up the stairs with Rose right behind him. He went right through the kitchen, past Alex and Stix who had their heads stuck in the refrigerator, and into the dining room, that was more of a storage room than anything else. Josh's parents were rarely home, so Josh normally ended up cooking for himself and the band, depending if they were over. Rose noticed too that she was spending less and less time at home with her dad and uncles. But back to Rose and Ben. He stood leaning his elbow against the wall, and she leaned next to him. He put on a smile only Ben could put on and said

"So Rose. Got anyone special coming to the wedding gig with you?" Rose almost fainted right there. _Is Ben seriously asking me out?_ She wondered to herself. Then she realized she had to talk.

"Um...no...Do you?" she asked, looking in his eyes as much as she could.

"No." he said "But I have someone in mind." he touched her arm lightly and said "Wanna be my date?" Rose felt a little awkward. She was known for speaking exactly what she was thinking, so she stupidly asked

"Um, you mean...band member to band member?" as soon as the question escaped her she knew it was a stupid thing to ask, but Ben just chuckled and rubbed her arm.

"No. I mean a real date. And after the wedding...maybe I could take you to a movie?" Rose was really blushing now. She smiled and said

"Um...yeah...okay. That'd be great."

"Awesome." he said, smiling. Then he did something that almost did make Rose pass out. He leaned down and gave her a light kiss on her cheek, before walking away, leaving Rose to beam across her crimson face. Rehearsal was basically over, so she grabbed her bag and started walking home, jumping and skipping all the way.

A week later, three days before the wedding, Rose was sitting in her room in her underwear and a camisole reading a magazine on her bed. None of her uncles or her father was home, so she figured what was the harm? However, when the doorbell rang and she heard Josh yelling outside, she felt uncomfortable. She ran into her closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants, but her slightly sweaty feet prevented them from sliding right on. When Josh started banging on the door, she just thought _Oh screw it _and ran upstairs. She opened the door to find a puffy-eyed, tear stained sobbing Josh standing on the steps. He grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"What the fuck Josh?" she asked, pulling him off."

"My parents...I'm...I'm...oh God. Rose can I come in? I need to talk to you. Please." Rose was concerned, so she let him in. She led him to the family room and sat down with him on the couch.

"Josh, hun, what's up?" Rose asked, hand on his shoulder. He took a few minutes to calm down and stop hyperventilating before he started his story.

"Remember last week you were asking me about my date for the wedding? And I said I didn't have one? Well, the fact that I couldn't think of a single girl in the school I liked made me start to wonder..." the muscles in his face contorted into a deep frown and he let out a silent shuddering breath. "I...I'm gay Rose. I know I am. Now I get it. I'm gay." Rose leaned over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So what's the problem Josh? What's so bad about this?" Josh hiccupped and said.

"That's not the problem. It's my parents. I...I tried to tell them just before, and they freaked out. My mom started screaming "QUEER! QUEER" and my dad started screaming "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" and he slapped me in the face. He told me to get the hell out of the house. I didn't know where to go, so I came here. Rose what am I gonna do?" he looked imploringly at her, tears streaming down his face. Rose clicked her tongue sympathetically and said, "If we can get the equipment out of your basement, we can practice in my garage. And you can stay here as long as you need to. But Josh?"

"Uh huh?" he asked

"If you wanna keep talking, you're gonna have to let me go put some more clothes on hun." he laughed and looked at her, realizing how little she was wearing.

"Sorry." he said, blushing. "You must be pretty uncomfortable now. Sorry I did that."

"No hun its okay just give me like a minute." she ran downstairs and threw on a bigger shirt and some sweatpants. _Josh was gay? _She thought to herself. She didn't mind, she had nothing against homosexuals, but it was still surprising. Rose would have thought Ben was gay before Josh. But oh well. She went back upstairs to find Josh calmed down a little.

"Did you mean what you said before? Can I stay here?" he asked tentatively.

"Sure!" said Rose. "I mean, do you think your parents won't let you come back?"

"Oh they'll let me come back...If I'm straight." he said, sighing. "We can sneak in and get my stuff tomorrow while they're not home. Are your parents gonna mind me staying here? I mean I am a guy." Rose thought about it. Would Gerard mind?

"Nah, he'll be fine. Your gay so my dad won't have to worry about you fucking me after he goes to sleep. Oh and by the way, my mom died when she had me. I live with my dad any my uncles. Four of them" Josh laughed and put on a fake disgusted face.

"EWWWWW! Fuck a girl! NASTY!" Rose laughed and sat down next to him on the couch. Then he just grabbed her into a huge bear hug. "Thank you so much." he whispered. "I feel so much better now. I can get through this." Rose squeezed him back and said.

"What the hell are friends for?". Josh laughed, and Rose went into the kitchen to get him a snack. She heard the door open and figured her dad must be home. Then she realized that Josh didn't know who her family was. She heard a scream, from Josh.

"ROSE! ROSE! GERARD WAY JUST CAME THROUGH YOUR FRONT DOOR!" Rose came in and handed Josh his soda, then gave Gerard a hug.

"Hey dad." she said

"Hey sweetie." he said, giving her a one armed hug. He turned to Josh, who was sitting on the couch completely dumbstruck. "Who's your friend?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh, dad, this is Josh. He plays bass in the band I'm in. You know, Demolition Lovers? Josh, this is my dad..." Josh stopped staring and stood up, shaking Gerard's hand.

"I know who this is Rose don't worry. You...wow. You're Gerard Way's daughter?" he asked, looking at her shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?" Rose shrugged and said

"I don't know, just didn't think it was all that important." she poured a skittle out of the pack she had and popped it into her mouth.

"DIDN'T THINK IT WAS..." said Josh exasperated, then he turned back to Gerard "Mr. Way, I can't tell you how awesome it is to meet you. I have all your CDs and everything. My Chemical Romance was the best thing that happened to the music world to this day." Gerard smiled and said

"Oh, thank you. And please." he clapped Josh on the shoulder. "Mr. Way is my father. You can call me Gerard." Josh's eyes widened and he sat back down on the couch, overloaded. Rose cut in.

"So dad, um, Josh is having some issues at home...would it be okay if he stayed here?" Gerard gave Rose an _Are you crazy that's a 15 year old guy_ look, but Rose mouthed "He's gay!" from behind the couch, so Josh wouldn't see. Gerard mouthed "Oh." and said

"Yeah sure, as long as you need to Josh. Our house is your house." he turned to Rose. "Going to be having rehearsals here too then? You can use the garage if you kids need to." Rose smiled, relieved that her father understood. She turned to Josh, who was still sitting there with his moth open. Then he said

"If your dad is Gerard Way...does that mean that the uncles that you mentioned are..." before he could finish, Frank, Bob, and Ray walked through the door followed quickly by Mikey. Josh's head fell foreword and he let out a small moan. Rose pushed his head playfully and it just sort of hang there to the side. Rose laughed and said

"Come on Joshie lets get you set up." she took his hand and made him stand up. She led him downstairs to her room where he plopped down on the edge of her bed, mumbling something about thinking Rose's last name was just a coincidence. Rose had a fold out couch in her room as well as her bed, because sometimes she had nightmares and needed to move from her bed. Her nightmares were normally about her mother's death, and she figured they were caused by the fact that Rose's room was her mother's old room. She opened up the pull out couch and went into her closet and pulled out some pillows and blankets, which she set up on the bed. She then went to her dresser and started putting the contents of half filled drawers into other half filled drawers to make room for Josh to put some of his things. Once she was done, she plopped down next to Josh, who was still sitting there thinking. After a minute or so he said

"So not only am I living with my best friend, but I'm also living with My Chemical Romance?" he asked, smiling.

"Yep." said Rose, putting her arm around Josh's shoulder.

"Hmm." he said. "I could definitely get used to this.". And they sat there laughing.


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

That Saturday Rose was ecstatic. She had been ever since Josh had moved in. The very day after he did Gerard drove them to Josh's house in the big MCR equipment van to pick up the instruments. Gerard and Josh loaded the stuff up while Rose ran up into his room to empty his closet and drawers. She grabbed his makeup case and everything she thought he was going to need. She came downstairs and threw it all into the van right as Gerard was closing the back of the van. They went back to the Way/Iero/Toro/Bryar house. She and Josh got along so well, and Josh was becoming very close to Gerard and the rest of MCR. Josh was now immortal when it came to bass; Mikey was giving him extra tutoring. He said Josh had real potential. Gerard was giving Rose singing tips almost constantly. Stix, Alex, and Ben started coming over and getting special lessons too. Bob was really impressed by Stix. He said it was not natural for a fifteen-year-old girl who had taught herself to play the drums to be this good. Ray and Frank were sitting back for Alex and Ben, saying they already knew everything they needed to know. Soon even Josh graduated from the school of Mikey. Rose was fine too; Gerard was just constantly sitting in on rehearsals and telling her how to sing. It was starting to irritate her. On Saturday, Rose and Josh were getting ready for the wedding gig. They kept joking about how hot one another looked. Once Josh had settled into Rose's house, he had become very open about his gay personality. Rose thought it made him a lot more fun to be around. He'd really come out of his shell. Josh was wearing black tuxedo pants with a hot pink button down shirt. He had a black tie very lose around his neck, and a tan blazer over the pink shirt. He had gelled his hair super flat over his eye and streaked it the pink of his shirt. His eyes were heavily coated in blue eyeliner and glittery blue shadow. Rose was a vision of beauty. She was wearing a black dress that was tight against her body, but not so tight that she looked like a fat whore. The torso section looked like a corset, black with red and white lace all over. Her shoulders were exposed except for a spaghetti strap on each side, but about three inches down her arm; flowy translucent sleeves went all the way down and spread wider to form almost a bell by the time they reached her wrist. The skirt part of the dress was a black silk layer that was so light that it fluttered when she moved, and over that were layers upon layers of black net. Rose felt like a dark fairy almost. Her dyed black hair was curled, so it was not as long as usual, but it fell over her shoulders in bunches of curls and they were silky and shiny. She had just finished applying her make up when the doorbell rang and she heard Gerard call to her saying Ben, Alex, and Stix were here to get her and Josh. They ran upstairs together and got into the van. Gerard was driving them since his van was big enough to fit the whole band and all their equipment. They got in the van and when Ben saw Rose his eyes widened and he gulped a little too loudly. Rose laughed and Ben said

"Wow. Rose. You look...perfect. Really. You look beautiful." Rose blushed and he got nervous again. "So, is it okay if Stix and Alex tag along to a movie after the wedding? Like a double date? Josh can come too if he wants." Ben looked at Josh. They all agreed and sat in happy silence the rest of the way.

They all felt very out of place at the wedding. Apparently, Josh's cousin had failed to mention that there was a white theme. Everyone was wearing white. They all took seats in the back, trying to avoid drawing a lot of attention to themselves. The service was nice, and then everyone went in their cars to the ballroom where the reception was being held. Gerard drove them there and they had to set up quickly, they were playing their set at the very beginning. They were ready in a blink of an eye, and Rose started singing "Say You Will" by Wakefield. Many of the people at the wedding were young, so something of a mosh pit started. Rose smiled; she loved singing for a crowd, especially with her four best friend's right behind her. The song ended and they went right into "She Will Be Loved". Rose saw the bride and groom dancing close together. They looked so happy. She hoped that one day she would find a love like that, maybe with Ben. She really liked Ben. After that song they played "Blue and Yellow" and finished off with Demolition Lovers". They said goodnight to the crowd and decided there was no point in sticking around for the remaining hour. They all wanted to go see a movie, so Stix, Rose, and Josh changed out of their formalwear in the van while Alex and Ben changed backstage. They loaded up their equipment and Gerard dropped them all of at the theater. They would walk home after the movie, it was about five blocks either way to all of their houses. They got tickets and found seats right in front of the screen. Rose glanced across Josh and Ben and noticed that Stix and Alex were already making out heavily. _The PREVIEWS haven't even started yet!_ She thought to herself. _That relationship is going to crash and burn if it's that based on sex. _She rolled her eyes and watched a preview for the chick flick coming out next December. As the lights got even dimmer and the movie started, Ben yawned and slid his arm around Rose. Her back tingled and she tried to stay cool, but it was hard. She just kept her eyes on the screen and sort of leaned into Ben, causing him to pull her closer. About forty-five minutes later Ben leaned down and whispered in Rose's ear

"I'm getting kind of hungry, want to go down the street and get a burger or something?" Rose smiled. Was Ben asking to hang with her alone?

"Sure." she asked. Ben leaned over to Josh and told him where they were going and they'd get themselves home. Ben took Rose's hand and led her up the isle and into the theater lobby, where they went out onto the street. Instead of walking straight left to go towards the crosswalk, Ben started leading Rose to an alley behind the theater. Rose pulled back a little.

"Ben where are we going?" she asked, nervously. She only knew Ben so well, and it was dark. The alley was small and wreaked of trash.

"I wasn't really hungry. I just kind of wanted some alone time with you that's all." he said. He slowly pushed Rose against the grimy brick wall and kissed her. Rose was not sure this was a good thing, but kissed back. It wasn't like she had a reason not to. Ben put his hands on Rose's shoulders, and then ran them up and down her arms. Rose was now officially uncomfortable, but she didn't protest, she liked Ben, and backing off just because he was touching her a little would make him hate her. Then his hands made it to her hips and Rose did not like this at all. She turned her head.

"Ben no." she said firmly. That's what she was supposed to do. Firmly say no._ Thank you date rape lesson in health class, _she thought to herself.

"Aww come on." Said Ben, kissing Rose's neck. "Let's have a little fun."

"No Ben. I don't want to. I'm only fifteen, I'm not ready." Ben was forcefully trying to undo her belt. Rose grabbed his arms and tried to force him off, but he kept going. For a skinny emo boy, he was strong. Rose started to cry. It sunk in that he really wanted to have sex with her, and the fact that she had just said no meant that she was no officially being raped.

"Stop crying!" he ordered. "This could be worse. I could be mean. Come on, don't you like me?"

"NO!" she managed a high-pitched scream. "LET ME GO!" and she forced all her strength into her hands and pushed Ben off by the shoulders. He grabbed her sleeve and her shirt ripped a little. Rose didn't care, she ran as fast as she could back into the theater and found Alex, Josh, and Stix. She stood there crying hysterically. Alex looked from Rose's tear stained face, to her messy hair, to her torn shirt, and to her half-done belt and a look of blind fury crossed his face.

"What did he do to you?" he asked Rose, grabbing her by the shoulders. Rose sobbed and whispered.

"He tried to rape me Alex. Ben, he tried to...he tried to..." Alex let go of Rose and went tearing down the isle. Rose chased after him calling for him to stop, leaving Stix and Josh to sit there, completely bewildered. Outside, Alex found Ben walking away from the theater. Alex called to him, Rose stood a few feet behind him, terrified.

"HEY ASSHOLE!" Ben turned around, saw Alex and took off running. Alex grunted and took off after him. Rose followed screaming

"ALEX STOP! HE'S NOT WORTH IT! HE'S NOT!" Alex caught up to Ben and jumped on his back, bringing then both to the ground. Rose was about ten feet away, paralyzed with fear. She saw Alex's arm go up, and down, and up, and down. Rose counted seven punches that looked like they went right to Ben's face. Then Rose realized she had to stop him. She ran over to the squirming boys and tried to pull Alex off the now bleeding Ben. She grabbed his punching arm and his other shoulder and pulled as hard as she could. Alex let himself be pulled up. Ben scrambled to his feet and wiped some blood from his lip. His bottom lip was cut up real bad, his left eye was black, and his nose was bleeding and off center. He shot Alex a look of total hatred and said

"Tell Josh to drop my guitar off by Tuesday." and he walked away. Rose broke down in tears and wrapped her arms around Alex's neck, crying like a baby into his shoulder. Alex stood there and rubbed her back and said

"Shhhhh. It's okay. It's okay." he let out a sigh and let Rose keep crying. Stix and Josh came running out of the theater and over to Alex and Rose. Stix was afraid

"What the fuck happened?" she asked. Alex paused a minute before answering

"That asshole Ben took her into that alley and tried to rape her!" he said, pointing to the alley. Josh gasped and doubled over, clenching his head. Rose could have sworn she heard him vomit. Stix went crazy.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HE DID? OH MY GOD! And wait, you're trying to calm her down? Ugh, get off her."

"Why?" said Alex, confused as she pried the hysterical Rose away from Alex.

"She just got assaulted by a member of your species. Getting comforted by another isn't going to make her feel any better." she got Rose to let go of Alex and took her into her own arms in a fierce hug. "Come on girl let it out. Ben's gone. Ben's gone sweetie." Rose was so glad Stix was there, she was happy Alex had comforted her, but Stix was right, Rose was not sure she was ever going to trust a guy again.

"He tried to rape me Stix. He tried to...he..." Rose sobbed.

"Shhhhh. Shhhhh. Okay. Okay I know I know. It's okay. He's gone now alright? We've got you you're fine." The four of them stood there for God knows how long, but then Rose said she wanted to go home. She and Josh walked one way and Alex and Stix went the other. Once Josh and Rose got home Gerard, Frank, Bob, and Mikey were all asleep. They went downstairs to their room and changed. Rose was still crying a little.

"Rose, Sweetie?" said Josh quietly. "Do you want me to stay in your bed with you tonight? Would you feel better?" Rose nodded. In fact she had been just about to ask her that. After she had finished changing She and Josh got into her bed but after a minute Rose realized she was missing something. She got out of bed and got out the blanket Gerard had had made for her when she was a baby. On it was stitched a picture of her mother Kayla. She was beautiful. Gerard always told her she looked just like her mother, but Rose didn't think she would ever be as pretty. She lay back down with Josh and pulled the blanket close around her. Now she had both Josh and her mother to protect her from any Ben based nightmares she would have that night.


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

The next morning when Gerard woke up, he remembered that Rose and Josh had not been home when he fell asleep. He went downstairs to check their room to see that they'd come home. When he looked in the doorway and saw Josh and Rose both in Rose's bed, Gerard went crazy. He stormed over to the bed and threw off the covers. Rose jolted awake to see her father standing there, furious. He opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish out of water and finally just pointed out the door and looked at Rose saying

"Upstairs. Now." Rose didn't protest. She stood right up and speed walked up the stairs and into the family room. Gerard followed quickly. "What the hell was that?" he asked Rose, whispering furiously. Rose was really mad. Her father was getting angry and he didn't know what the hell was even going on! "I want to know what Josh was doing in your bed. You have about thirty seconds of my good temper left." Tears leaked down her cheeks as she saw flashes of Ben from the night before. She took a deep breath and began.

"Last night, when you dropped the band off at the movie theater, it was kind of a double date; Josh was a third wheel kinda though. Alex was with Stix...and I was with Ben. We were all doing fine in the theater and then in like the middle of the movie, Ben said he was hungry and he asked me if I wanted to go around the corner for like a burger or something. I said okay and we got outside the theater but then he..." Rose was having trouble talking now, but Gerard looked concerned and interested, and his eyes pressed his daughter for more. "...he brought be into an alley behind the theater and he wanted to...he wanted me to..." Rose took deep gasps of air as she relived the previous night. She could almost feel Ben's body pressed against hers again. She forced herself to finish. "I said no, but he kept trying. I...I got away from him, and I went back into the theater. Alex realized what had happened, and he beat the crap out of Ben. Then when we got home, I just did not feel safe by myself. Josh offered to sleep in my bed with me and I accepted. I felt safer with someone I trusted right there next to me. Josh is gay dad. It's not like anything happened." She finished her story and looked up from her feet to look at Gerard. He just stood there with his mouth open for a minute, and then he leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. He started rubbing the skin under his eyes, thinking hard about what Rose had just told him. He let out a deep sigh, and something about seeing her father this way made Rose cry a little harder. He walked over to her and grabbed her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back and stroked her hair

"Okay. Okay. Okay. All right I'm not mad sweetie its okay. It's fine. Ben can't get you now, I'm here Ben can't get you I promise. I'll never let them hurt you...I promise." he said. Rose broke away and started laughing.

"I can't believe you just said that dad." she said, smiling.

"What?" he said shrugging. "I had to say something to make you feel better, and quoting my old stuff always makes you laugh." Rose smiled and said

"Fine. You win." Gerard thought for a second and then said

"Remember when you were younger and me and the guys would always take you out, every Friday?" he asked.

"Yeah. Those were so much fun. You guys are hilarious." Gerard smiled, staring off into space, remembering those days. They'd sort of faded as Rose got older.

"So it's settled. We'll all go out on Friday night. Even Josh if he wants too."

"Where?" asked Rose. Gerard smiled a sly little half smile.

"Youuu'll seeeeee." he said. Rose shrugged and went back down to her room. She found Josh getting dressed, sitting on the floor pulling on his pants. Josh was a little chubby, and for some reason he always wound up buying pants a size or two too small. She stood over him and laughed as he sucked it in way to far to get the zipper up. He put on a black belt with rhinestone studs and put on a red and black striped polo shirt. He started doing his hair as Rose went towards her closet. She pulled out a faded denim skirt that she had made herself. She'd cut a pair of jeans up and patched them together so they made a skirt that came to about mid thigh. She pulled out a pair of dark black tights and pulled those on underneath the skirt. She got out a long sleeve yellow shirt and pulled that on, with a vintage black Ramones t-shirt over that. She put her hair into two low pigtails towards the back of her head and pulled a brown hat over them. She put on a lot of brown eyeliner and a little green shadow and finished the look off with some pale pink gloss. When she was done, Alex was just finishing his make-up too. They had plans to go to a nearby winter carnival that day with Alex. Stix couldn't come, she was visiting with her dad for the next two weeks. Josh and Rose went upstairs and had a leisurely breakfast with Ray and Mikey. Then Alex came to the door and Rose and Josh got their jackets. They got a ride from Alex's dad because the carnival was about ten miles away. When they got there they pooled their money and bought ride all day wristbands instead of tickets. Rose and Alex immediately went for the Double Shot ride; the thing that blasted you a hundred feet and brought you crashing back down. Josh took some persuading, but Rose promised him she would win him the Chad Michael Murray poster he was eyeing if he did the Double Shot. So Josh, unable to argue with that offer went on the ride. And they ended up on it three times in a row. They rode all the extreme rides all day, and in return, Rose had to win Josh the Chad poster, the Leonardo DiCaprio poster, and the kitten poster. But the kitten poster was more for both of them. When night fell and it became way to cold to stay at the fair any longer, they called Gerard and he picked them up, dropping Alex off at home and then heading back to the MCR house. Josh ran inside and put the posters up over his bed right away. Rose just stood there and laughed as he kissed his hand and pressed it gently against both the Chad and Leo posters. Josh turned around and said

"WHAT? It's not my fault they're dead sexy..." he gave them one last longing look and went upstairs in search of food. Rose followed, yelling

"FANGIRL FANGIRL!" just to annoy Josh.

On Friday, Rose and Josh were waiting for Gerard, Ray, Frank, Bob, and Mikey to get back. They had been out all day "scouting locations to have a fun Friday night", or so they said. They pulled up in the van and Josh and Rose jumped in. They were immediately tackled by Ray and Bob and blindfolded. Josh laughed and said

"What the hell?" he groped around and found Rose's arm. "What's going on?" Rose just smiled and sat. This was what they used to do. They would blindfold her and take her somewhere fun. She just sat there and whistled to herself. Soon Josh realized there was nothing to worry about, and joined her in singing an old Maroon 5 song. When the car stopped, Ray and Bob led the still blindfolded Rose and Josh out of the van. They walked across what seemed like a parking lot, and then suddenly it got warm and the ground was softer, meaning they had walked inside. She heard bells and whirrs of machines and then the blindfold was removed from her eyes. Rose blinked and realized she was in a bowling alley. And it was completely empty except for the employees. She smiled and leaped in the air. _Dad rented out a whole friggin bowling alley!_ She thought to herself. Gerard grabbed her hand and led her down to the lanes. He called her as a captain and himself as the other. Rose immediately called Josh, and eventually the teams lined up as Gerard, Ray, and Mikey, and on the other team; Rose, Mikey, Josh, and Bob. They just played against each other, screaming in the opposite team's face whenever they got a good shot. Rose's team won. Then Gerard leapt over his seat and ran over to the desk. He came back after a second and sat down, smiling.

"What was that?" asked Frank.

"Nothing, just wait." said Gerard. Then, behind them employees came out with equipment, a projector, projection screen, and other whirring boxes. Many lights turned off and disco balls started to spin. Rose laughed.

"Dad you did not set up karaoke!" she said.

"Yeah Rosie it looks like he did." said Mikey laughing just as hard. Gerard ran up to the stand as soon as it turned on and programmed a number into the screen. Josh, who was a die-hard Cyndi Lauper fan, fell of his chair laughing. He was the first one by about ten seconds to realize that Gerard was about to sing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Rose fell off her chair too. She couldn't help it, her father was about to make a total fool of himself. Frank let out a girlish squeal, jumped up, and grabbed one of the other mics. Mikey, Ray, and Bob started dancing like idiots. Rose and Josh looked at each other, shrugged, and figured what the hell? They went up and danced with them. Everyone just had the time of their lives making total dorks of themselves until the manager finally sent them home at one in the morning.


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Before you knew it, the holiday dance was less than a week away at Rose's school. Everyone was buzzing about who was going with who, and Rose admitted to herself she was a little worried about not having a date. However, this thought was pushed to the back of her mind by the fact that she, Josh, Stix, and Alex were frantically searching out a new guitarist. Rose was interviewing ten kids a day at least, usually more. They either stunk, or were just bad people. They were beginning to run out of hope. Rose looked at the sign up sheet she had posted to her locker and noticed that a boy named Dylan Harrison was coming by to audition for them after school. She knew that name, Dylan was a transfer student from Ohio or something. She rolled her eyes, already anticipating another assault on her eardrums. She met up with Alex, Stix, and Josh by the main door and they started walking towards Rose's house. Somehow, Dylan was already there, tuning his guitar. He looked like he had been there forever. Rose stopped. _Why must they be so hot?_ She asked herself as she stood there watching Dylan shake hands with Alex and Josh. Stix came up behind her and elbowed her in the side, jerking Rose from her trance.

"Hell, I'd go for it if I didn't have Alex. Go get him." she said, laughing a little. Rose closed her mouth, and walked over holding out her hand.

"Hi. I'm-"

"Rose Way. Daughter of Gerard Way. Lead singer in this band. Mother died in childbirth when she had you... Yeah I know all about you." he said, shaking her hand. Rose withdrew it as quickly as she could, eyebrow raised.

"Okay..." she said, a little disturbed

"Let's just say I'm a fan." he said, smiling at her worried expression. She couldn't help but feel a little better when he smiled at her. Dylan was really nice to look at, Rose couldn't deny that. Dylan was wearing baggy blue jeans that fell just to the toes of his brown converse sneakers. His jeans had a lot of pockets and zippers and chains. His shirt was a tight black polo shirt with a pink tight sleeve shirt underneath that. His hair was long and black and all over the place. It was spiked out in twenty different random directions and parts were colored blonde or pink or blue. His eyes were covered in black liner and shadow, so much that he almost looked dead. His eyes were more like hollow sockets from afar, but when you got closer and looked carefully Rose saw they were a deep piercing blue. He had a silver ring pierced through the side of his lip. _Okay this is the pinnacle of emo hot standing in front of me. _Thought Rose. She shook her head and sat down with Stix, Alex and Josh as Dylan got ready to play.

"So Dylan, what are you playing for your audition?" asked Alex very businesslike.

"Well, just for fun I'm gonna play about two minutes of uh "You Have Made Us Conscious" by-"

"The Audition! Great!" said Rose, unable to control herself. She loved that song. Dylan flicked the switch on his amp and started playing. The music seemed to just flow right out of his guitar. Dylan was concentrating hard, Rose could tell, but the care made his playing totally flawless. His fingers moved across the frets and strings so fast it was like machinery. Rose was completely stunned. Once Dylan was done, they all just sat there for a second, until suddenly, Alex rose from his seat and clapped. He went right over to Dylan and said

"Incredible job Dylan. Incredible. Just give us a minute." Alex came back over to Rose, Stix, and Josh and said "No way we can turn this kid down." They all agreed and turned back to Dylan. Stix went up to him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Dylan Harrison. When can you start?" she said. Dylan smiled and let out a fast breath. His stick straight posture slackened a little, he was obviously relieved. Then Rose heard the door to the garage opening. Frank walked in.

"Who was that?" he asked. "That was incredible playing. Seriously." Dylan's jaw dropped.

"Um...that would be me." he said, gulping and holding up his hand. Frank walked over.

"Is he replacing Ben?" asked Frank. Rose nodded. Frank then asked Dylan to play for him again. He stood there in awe as Dylan's blue Fender played the kind of music that could make gargoyles smile. When he was done, Frank was speechless. He sighed, gaped for a minute, then said

"Where the hell did you learn to play like that?" he asked. Dylan shrugged.

"I started teaching myself when I was...I think six or seven. It's just practice I guess." Frank nodded.

"Well keep at it. You have on hell of a gift." Frank turned to leave, Dylan watching his back as he walked out the door. After a minute Josh said

"So. Let's get practicing."

The next few days Rose got really close to Dylan. They became almost like brother and sister, despite Rose's growing crush on him. Three days before the holiday dance, Dylan had stuck around after rehearsal was over; Stix and Alex had gone home and Josh was in the house cleaning his bass. Dylan and Rose were just sitting and talking.

"You know, I think you get this from everyone, but you really are the best guitarist I've ever met." she said to him. Dylan rested his head on her shoulder and put on a fake cute boy face, trying to make Rose laugh.

"Well, less people say I'm good because now I'm behind you. You know, best singer ever?" Rose pushed his head off her shoulder. Rose didn't like being complimented on her voice, for some reason it made her feel weird. Dylan put on a pout, pretending to be hurt and said

"Ouch! That was mean! Rosie is evil." Rose laughed and put her hands over her heart, pretending to be truly sorry.

"Oh no! Whatever can I do to make things all better?" Dylan thought for a second, then said

"You can let me be your date for the dance on Friday." Rose's heart leapt. _Dylan just asked me out. Oh wow. Oh wow. _She thought. She smiled and said

"Okay. I can do that." Dylan gave her a white-toothed side smile and said

"Cool." he glanced at the clock. "But I gotta go. See you in school?" he asked as he picked up his backpack.

"Yeah. See you in school." said Rose, smiling and waving a little. Once he'd left. Rose squealed and jumped up. She ran into the house and told Josh everything.


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Friday night came at last and Rose was absolutely floating. Josh was really starting to get annoyed by her. He completely refused to help her get ready for the dance, saying he wasn't going to take part in her and Dylan getting together. He hadn't gotten over the whole Ben raping thing. When Rose was ready though, Josh did do a bit of a double take.

"Whoa. I'd go straight for that." he said, smiling. Rose rolled her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror again. She frowned at her profile, and mumbled something about a belly roll. Rose never wanted to admit she looked good, but right now she really did. Her skirt was black and came down to about mid thigh. There were frilly layers upon frilly layers of black mesh lined with pink that went over the bottom layer. Her shirt was like a corset almost, tight against her body with intricate pink lace strips running along the front and sides. It was strapless, so she wore a black net shirt under it, with holes in the sleeves for her thumbs. Her legs were covered in black fishnet stockings and her footwear were almost knee-high patent leather boots with a three-inch heel. Her black hair was shiny from three days of deep conditioning. She had super-straightened it so it was even longer than usual, and her bangs just brushed her eyebrows. Her eyes had blue eyeliner on the top and bottom rims with hot pink shadow all over the lids. Mascara polished the top and bottom lashes, and for once putting the mascara on the bottom was not overkill. She'd used a special long lasting lip color and stained her lips purple; she looked like the perfect Goth girl date. She finally realized that saying she was fat wasn't going to make herself any uglier, so she smiled and admitted in her mind that Dylan was going to go crazy. Suddenly she heard the doorbell ring. She went for the stairs because she knew it was Dylan, Alex and Stix, but Josh blocked her path.

"Are you crazy Rosie?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Dylan is here! Come on I wanna see him! Josh get out of my way!" screamed Rose. Josh shook his head.

"You gotta make him wait for that." he said, pointing to her. Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go get the door. Stay here until I come for you." Rose shrugged

"You are going to come for me right? You aren't going to go and take Dylan for yourself are you?" Josh laughed and said

"Not my type. But if he was...I can't think of one thing that would stop me." he bit his lip and stared off into space until Rose pushed his shoulder

"That better not be MY date you're fantasizing about." she laughed. Josh snapped back as the doorbell rang again. Josh turned and ran up the stairs. Rose leaned against the wall for a few minutes until Josh poked his head down the stairs and whistled. Rose smiled and walked up the stairs slowly. Only Dylan and Alex were there. Josh and Alex were deep in conversation about something guitar related, but Rose couldn't quite pay attention to that, she was too busy stopping herself from laughing at Dylan's face when he saw her. He'd been standing there kind of nervously, balancing on the balls of his feet and whistling a little. When Rose came up the stairs, his eyebrows practically disappeared into his hair. His eyes went so wide you could see white on the top and bottom. He just stood there and stared for a minute, taking in everything then he sighed and smiled and said

"Wow. You...you look...incredible." he looked down at his feet, searching for more words. He found none. After a few seconds of silence Josh rushed to the rescue.

"So...time to go?" he asked, opening the front door. Dylan gave a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, time to dance I guess. Ready?" he asked, looking at Rose. She smiled and nodded. He reached out his hand and Rose accepted it. His hand was warm and a little sweaty, but Rose didn't mind. In fact she found it kind of sweet that he was nervous around her. She didn't think she'd ever made a guy nervous before. She had to admit that the power felt good. Stix was waiting in the van. She was the oldest, sixteen, and she'd just gotten her license, therefore she had become the official band's chauffeur. They all piled into her dad's old 60's Volkswagon van and off they went to the dance.

_The decorations are incredible! Student council did a great job this year!_ Thought Rose to herself as they entered the gym. All the regular lights were off, but at least a hundred strings of clear Christmas lights were strung across the ceiling and walls, with at least another hundred colored strings. Hanging from the ceiling were long dangling glittery Styrofoam snowflakes, and lots of fake snow covered the space where the walls met the floor. Christmas trees were in each corner and a big sleigh was set up on one side of the gym, disguising the DJ table. After Rose, Stix, Alex, Josh, and Dylan had finished admiring the decorations, Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance" came on, and Dylan invited Rose onto the dance floor. Stix and Alex followed and danced together a few feet away from them. Josh was soon approached by one of the other gay boys from the tenth grade, he seemed happy enough, so Rose wasn't worried. She was a little nervous, she wasn't a good dancer. She did what she could, but mostly giggled slightly as Dylan attempted to hide that he couldn't dance either. Finally he shrugged and said

"I can't dance to save my mother's life." he looked almost disappointed in himself. Rose's face fell to see him sad and she put her hand on his shoulders and whispered in his ear

"It's okay. I can't dance either. I'm perfectly fine with us making total idiots of ourselves. You game?" She came away from his ear to get his reaction. He smiled, nodded and pulled her by the hand right into the center of the dance floor as the second chorus started up. He attempted to do a sort of combination between the robot and the worm. Rose was bent double laughing and Dylan gave her a half smile.

"Let's see you do better then!" he said, backing up to give her more space. Rose thought for a second and then thought _Screw it_. The song slowed down for a second so she just started moshing. It was her native dance. What she'd always been doing. Dylan smiled and said  
"HELL YEAH!" he started getting others into the mosh pit. Soon the whole gym was a throng of crashing bodies, with Dylan and Rose jumping right at the center. Then the record squealed and stopped. People stopped jumping and pushing to find out where the music went. Rose turned to the DJ and whispered

"Oh shit!" because the assistant principal was standing on the sleigh, staring daggers at all the students. When he spoke his voice was like angry thunder, and his messaged stung like lightning.

"This disorderly conduct is expected of three year olds! NOT ninth and tenth graders. This dance is over. Everybody out! There were groans and yells of protest but then the assistant principal threatened the other two dances and people moved a little faster. Rose and Dylan waited by the door for Stix and Alex. When the gym emptied and still no Alex or Stix, Josh mentioned that they might already be at the van, so they started down the hallway towards the parking lot. They were almost to the door when Stix and Alex toppled out of a janitor's closet. Alex's hair was really messy and Stix's dress was off-center. Rose stifled a snigger and Josh just stood there. Dylan turned around and kept walking. Alex and Stix jumped to their feet and caught up with the other three. When they reached the van, Rose was about to climb into the passenger seat when Dylan pulled her around the back of the bus.

"Hey." he said, smiling down at her. He was about five or six inches taller.

"Hey." she said, smiling. "I had a great time tonight...a short time, but a fun time."

"Yeah me too." he said. He put his hand on her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Rose looked into his face and the look in his eyes was one that was debating a kiss. Moments went past and she wanted Dylan to kiss her, but she was afraid he wouldn't. She wondered if he didn't think she wanted him to.

"You know..." she said. "You can kiss me if you want to." Geeky, she knew, but dammit she wanted her kiss! Dylan realized this was his perfect opportunity. Rose stood on her toes to meet his lips as he bent down. He kissed her light at first, then harder. Rose couldn't help but get butterflies. His hands were on her waist, but he didn't try and move them to her butt or her boobs, he was content and comfortable just kissing her. _He's perfect. _They stayed there, Rose's back against the bus until she heard a loud bang right behind the back of her head.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS! GET IN THE CAR WE'RE GOING HOME!" yelled Alex through the wall of the car. Rose groaned a little. She didn't want to move. Dylan laughed a little and said

"Guess we'd better uh..."

"Yeah I guess..." added Rose. She slid out from under him and into the front seat next to Stix. Dylan piled into the back with Alex and Josh. The whole ride home Rose would turn around in her seat every few minutes to see Dylan smiling at her. She would smile back and then turn back to look through the windshield at the falling snow. When Stix pulled up in front of Rose and Josh's house, Dylan jumped out the door behind Josh. When the three of them reached the front door Josh went inside to leave them alone. Dylan bent down and kissed Rose a last time.

"See you in school on Monday?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah." she said. "Monday." Dylan turned to walk away but stopped after a few steps and walked back to Rose.

"No. I can't wait until Monday. I wanna see you again sooner than Monday." Rose laughed.

"You can't wait two days to see me again?" she asked.

"No! No I seriously can't. Sorry. Can I take you out for pizza or something tomorrow night? Like, at six?" Rose beamed.

"Yeah I guess so." Dylan seemed to rise a few inches off the ground.

"Great. I'll pick you up at six." He ran back to the van and closed the door behind him. Rose didn't go inside until the bus was completely out of sight. She let out a big sigh and opened the door. What she saw made her laugh a little. She walked through the front door and into the family room where Gerard, Frank, Bob, Mikey, and Ray were standing, all smiles. Josh had obviously told them about her kiss with Dylan. She stood there smiling at them smiling at her. Finally Frank said

"Soooooo. How'd it goooooo?" Rose smiled a little and said

"Fine." she shrugged and went downstairs to her room. She wasn't about to tell her father and uncles about her first kiss. This was something she was going to save for Stix.


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Rose was a little nervous. Josh kept telling her she looked fine, but she felt underdressed. She added a little more makeup and then she thought she looked like a whore, but she took it back off and she looked underdressed again. This viscous cycle continued for about an hour until Josh finally confiscated Rose's makeup.

"Rosie! Stop it! You look fine baby!" he said, grabbing her shoulders. Rose slumped down against the dresser. She scowled at her reflection, mostly her stomach. _Fat. FAAAAAAATTTTT. _She thought to herself. She got to her feet. She was wearing dark blue flare jeans with a three row pyramid stud belt. She was wearing a washed out Superman logo t-shirt with a green day zip up hoodie over that. Her hair was up in a high pony tail and she had low dangling lightning bolt earrings. Her makeup was blue eyeliner that did not have any shadow, because she had just wiped it off. Now looking at her eyes in the mirror she really wanted Josh to relinquish her shadow. She shot Josh the most pathetic puppy dog look she could, but he tucked the eye shadow into his pocket.

"You really do look fine Rose." he said, looking her sincerely in the eye. Rose would have protested, but the doorbell rang. Dylan had arrived. Josh got up from Rose's bed and headed towards the stairs. Rose beat him to it.

"Know what?" she said, blocking Josh in the room. "I'm gonna just go. Not gonna 'make him wait'. Okay?" Josh shrugged

"Suit yourself babe." he said and went back to his magazine. Rose rolled her eyes and ran up the stairs as Bob was letting Dylan in. Dylan smiled.

"You look nice." he said. Rose actually believed him. Just for a second she didn't feel fat, or underdressed. When Dylan said she looked good, she believed him. He pulled a hand out from behind his back. There was a single red rose in his hand. Rose gasped. It was nothing special, she knew that, but it was still great to get. Dylan spoke a little nervously

"I...I thought you might like it...cause...you're name is...well...um..."

"A Rose for Rose huh?" said Gerard, coming down the stairs. "Clever. Good touch." he said, winking at Dylan. "So. I want her home by nine. I doubt pizza takes that long, but I know you'll probably go places afterwards blah, friends, blah, walks, blah blah blah. But have her back by nine okay?" he said.

"Nine it is sir." said Dylan, doing a little two-fingered salute. Rose giggled. Gerard took her rose.

"I'll put this in water in your room okay sweetie?" he said to her.

"Thanks dad." she said. He kissed the top of her head and said

"Have fun!" as he went down to Rose and Josh's room.

"So guess what?" said Dylan.

"What?" said Rose.

"I passed my driver's test today. That's kind of why I wanted to see you today. You're the first one who rides with me. And guess what? My dad said that the day I actually passed my test, he was gonna buy me whatever car I wanted. So I passed, and guess what I got?" Rose's jaw dropped.

"A car? Not a hand-me-down? Come on let me see!" Rose wrenched open the front door and gasped at what she saw parked in front of her house. It was a midnight purple Lamborghini. "Whoa!" said Rose. "That's like the one Bam Margera used to drive! That's so hot! How'd you get this? They stopped selling these years ago!" she said, running her fingers over the hood of the car.

"Yeah I know. My dad found it at this old dealership. I don't know how, he just...found it. My dad works in mysterious ways." said Dylan laughing. "Well get in! We have pizza to eat!" Rose slid into the front passenger seat. The car had that awesome new car smell that she normally hated, but the fact that it was her date's car made it totally different. The engine purred as Dylan turned the keys in the ignition. He smiled and said

"HI HO SILVER! AWAY!" he said, in an low, operatic voice. Rose laughed as he said it, pushing down the gas and speeding down the street. They pulled up in front of the pizzeria and Josh ran around to Rose and opened her door.

"Right this way Madame." he said, bowing her past him. He closed the door and clicked the auto lock as they walked in.

"Hey Dylan, it looks kind of empty...and pretty dark...are the open?" she asked.

"Just go in." he said, smiling. Rose pushed open the door to see that it was not at all closed. Only one table was set in the whole resteraunt. The rest of the floor was totally clear. A stereo in the corner played "I Miss You" by Blink-182. Dylan pulled out a chair for her and pushed it in gently when she had sat down. Almost immediately waiters brought out a slice for each of them. Rose sighed and looked at Dylan.

"Tell me you rented out this whole pizzeria just for us." she said, eyebrows raised. Dylan shrugged and stared at his pizza.

"It's overkill isn't it?" he said, almost sadly. "I knew it was too much but I..."

"No..." said Rose, reaching over the table and resting her hand on his. "No, its perfect. I'm just...surprised that's all. I mean, no one really ever goes this all out on me." Dylan licked his lips, looking for words. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Rose turned her head and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"I...I really..." he spoke finally, his voice cracking. _He's not a "feelings" guy. This must be hard. But he's trying, I must be special or something_. She thought to herself as he fumbled for more words. "I...I really like you Rose." he finally choked out. Rose smiled.

"I really like you too." she said, taking his hand again. Dylan gave her a huge smile. He rose out of his chair a little and kissed her from across the chapter.

"Um...better now than later when I have pizza breath..." Rose laughed.

"Somehow I doubt I'll care." she said and kissed him again. "You know what?" she said. "I have to be honest. I'm not hungry at all." Dylan gave her a half smile and put a ten-dollar bill on the table.

"Then lets get out of here. Wanna go for a walk maybe?" Rose smiled and nodded. She stood up as Dylan did and they headed for the door. They walked up the slushy sidewalks past windows full of holiday displays. Their hands swung back and forth, bumping into one another's every now and then, and Rose finally decided she wanted the hand. The next time his hand hit hers she grabbed it. Dylan looked away from the hardware store window display and smiled at her. He looked down at their hands as he laced his fingers between hers. She squeezed his hand and they kept walking. After about an hour or so Rose was getting tired, and cold.

"I'm freezing." she said.

"Yeah same." he said, wrapping his arm around her in an attempt to warm her up. "Wanna head back to the Lambo and I'll take you home?" he asked, talking into her hair.

"Yeah okay." she said. They walked back to Dylan's car and he turned on the heat immediately. He wrapped his arm around the shivering Rose and rubbed her arms and back, trying to get the friction to warm her up until the heat kicked in. Once hot air started coming through the vents he let her go and started driving. It was about 8:30, so there would be no heat whatsoever from Gerard. Rose stared out the window, looking at Dylan's reflection. She caught him glancing at her every few minutes. She slid closer to him and ran her fingers up and down his right arm. He put brakes on at a stoplight and kissed her with the spare time. The light went green and they rode the remaining few blocks to Rose's house. When he put the car in park in front of the house, Rose got out and stepped into the cold. Dylan put his arm around her again and walked up the walkway to her house. When they got to the door she said

"I'm really glad you did total overkill. It was perfect." Dylan laughed

"Don't remind me of that ever again. It was stupid of me. Way to much..." he started rambling and Rose put her finger on his lips to silence him. She put her hand down and replaced it with her own lips on his. Rose lost track of how long they kissed, but eventually it was Dylan who broke away. His watch beeped 9:00.

"Guess this is goodnight." he said.

"Yeah I guess." said Rose. She put her hand on the doorknob, but then jumped on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly one more time. Dylan smiled as she closed the door, leaving him on the doorstep. She watched from the window as he got in his car and drove away. She went downstairs, biting her lip, going past her and Josh's bathroom. The door was closed, she figured Josh was inside shaving or tweezing his eyebrows or something. Rose went into her room and pulled off her clothes. She walked in her underwear over to her drawer to get some pajamas out and as she was walking past her mirror, she caught a glimpse of her body. She grimaced. She ran her hands across her stomach and thighs and arms, pinching the excess fat. There wasn't much, but she was definitely not a model. Rose thought she looked horrible. She hated her body. She picked up Josh's magazine off her bed. There were all these beautiful girls, actresses, singers, people like the person Rose wanted to be. There they were in their tiny dresses with their perfect bodies. Rose threw the magazine against the mirror and put on her pajamas, crawling into bed as Josh came into the room.

"Rose? I heard a crash? Something wrong?" she heard him ask. Rose closed her eyes tight, mostly to keep from crying. If Josh thought she was asleep, she wouldn't have to talk about it. _It. You're FATNESS._ She thought to herself. Why was she beating herself up like this? She heard Josh flop down under the covers on his pullout couch and once she heard his light snores she let herself cry.


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Rose woke up the next morning with a huge headache from crying the night before. Josh had already gone upstairs to breakfast; she could hear him talking with Ray. Rose swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked at herself in the mirror again. _How could Dylan possibly like me if I look like this?_ She wondered to herself. He couldn't possibly like her. She was fat.

"Fat whore." she whispered to the mirror and went upstairs. She sat down across from Ray and he handed her the box of Fruit Loops. Rose glumly poured some into a bowl and added some milk. As she took a bite, she looked at the nutrition facts on the box. _Holy Shit! 160 calories? Ten grams of sugar?_ She thought, stunned. She quietly spit the mouthful back into the bowl and said

"Uh...uh...I'm not all that hungry. Think I'll just um...skip breakfast for today." she got up, poured the cereal down the disposal, and flicked the switch. She watched the soggy mushy cereal get pulverized by the blades as it went down the hole and thought to herself _I almost ate that calorie fest. Ugh. _She frowned at the mess and then pulled herself together.

"So Josh, what time are the guys coming over to rehearse?" she asked, turning towards the table.

"Um...in like a half hour I think." he said.

"You want us to clear out Rosie?" asked Ray. Lately Rose's uncles and father had gotten really annoying when it came to giving them "pointers". Rose had resorted to kicking them out all together the past few rehearsals.

"Yeah that'd be great. I'll shoot Bob a call when you can all come back." she said.

"Sure thing. I'll go tell the guys and we'll be out in ten." said Ray.

"Thanks." said Rose and Josh together. Ray got up and took the stairs two at a time.

"I'm gonna go downstairs and get dressed." she said to Josh as she went down the stairs. Josh just waved mouth full of cereal. Rose went back down the stairs and into her and Josh's room. She went through her closet and her drawers until she found a pair of very baggy sweatpants. She put those on and she felt that they disguised her thighs very well. She got a really big pajama t-shirt out of her closet and put that on. However, that didn't take care of her arms. She just got her Underoath hoodie and put that on. _There. _She thought. _Now I don't look fat, I just look like I've got big clothes on. No problem. _She went upstairs when she heard Stix's voice. She saw her van outside and figured that Alex and Dylan were unloading their equipment. When Stix saw Rose, one eyebrow went up.

"Planning on smuggling some people out of the country under your clothes?" she asked. Rose blushed.

"No. I just...don't have a lot clean that's all." she said, trying to escape into the garage. Stix stood there and said

"Well you look like a friggin whale in all that heavy clothing." Rose flinched. _You're a fucking whale. See. Stix said it herself. Fat._ Rose tried to turn off that damn voice in her head but she couldn't. She walked quietly into the garage to see Alex and Dylan tuning their guitars. Dylan got up and walked over to her.

"Hey." he said, kissing her on the cheek. "What's with all the clothes? Hiding extra people in there or something?" he asked, laughing a little. Rose pulled away from him.

"I already told Stix it was all I have clean. Can we not talk about it?" she asked him, walking over to the mic stand and adjusting it to her height. Dylan stood there, arms still open a little from holding her. He looked slightly hurt. Rose tried to ignore it. _He won't be sad anymore when I'm skinny. _She said. Josh and Stix came in and they played a few songs. But Rose was tired, after all she hadn't eaten breakfast. Alex seemed to notice how tired she was. He stopped playing and ran his hand across his throat, signaling everyone else to stop.

"Hey Rose, why don't you go inside. You seem pretty washed up. We can just practice playing, you sound fine." Rose closed her eyes for a second, relieved.

"Thanks. Yeah I am pretty tired. Didn't get a whole lot of sleep." she said as she turned off her mic.

"Bye Rose." said Dylan hopefully. Rose walked right past him and into the house.

Her stomach was heaving empty. Rose was bent over the toilet, trying to throw up. Every minute or so she stuck her finger down her throat, trying to make herself heave. It worked, but there was nothing in her stomach. Finally Rose gave up, slumping against the bathroom wall, wiping sweat from her face. Her face went white as she heard a nock on the door. It was her dad.

"Rosie? Honey are you okay in there?" he asked, turning the knob. It was locked. "Rose?"

"It's okay dad." she called through the door. "Just not feeling well that's all."

"Okay." said Gerard. "Want me to make you something? Tea maybe? Or some soup?"

"NO!" screamed Rose, much louder than she meant to. She heard the word soup and lost it. _I do not want food. I do not want food. _She told herself. _YES I DO! _Said another voice. _I'm hungry. Let me eat. _The two voices fought with each other in her head even after she left the bathroom. She could smell chicken cooking. She heard Gerard and Mikey talking from the kitchen. Mikey turned to Rose as she entered the room.

"Want something to eat sweetie?" he asked. "Me and Gerard are making grilled chicken. Okay attempting to make grilled chicken..." he added as Gerard said

"Oops." Rose laughed. She looked at the piece of charred black meat. "One more time." he said as he threw the chunk in the trash. He got out a raw piece and put it on the stove. "How much will you eat Rose?" he asked. _Don't eat. If you eat you won't be able to stop and you'll stay fat. _The annoying voice said. _I'm hungry dammit! _said the other voice. _I'm just gonna take one piece and that's all I'll have._

"Um, just one. I'm not really that hungry." Mikey leaned against the counter and gave her a quizzical look.

"Not that hungry." he repeated. "But Josh said you didn't really eat breakfast. Rosie what's up? Normally you have such a big appetite." Rose shrugged.

"I'm cutting down a little that's all. You have to admit I am overweight-"

"No you're not." said Gerard, his tone interrupting her thoughts. "You're fine Rose. Honey you're fine okay?" he said, looking at her. Rose couldn't be sure, but somehow she thought her father knew exactly what was going on.

"I am NOT fine dad." said Rose, mumbling a little. Gerard gave her a stern look.

"Mikey. Can you talk to Rose? I'm gonna try and make this chicken, but someone needs to talk to her about this. Now." Mikey nodded and put his arm around Rose, leading her downstairs to her and Josh's room. Josh was sitting on the bed, reading that damn magazine again. Instead of chasing Josh out, Mikey said

"Oh, good, Josh. Maybe you can help me." Josh sat up and said

"Huh?" he closed his magazine and placed it on the nightstand.

"Rose thinks she's fat." said Mikey, leading Rose to the mirror.

"Rosie! Baby you're gorgeous!" said Josh, crawling to the edge of the bed and hopping off to stand by her side. He wrapped his arm around her as Rose's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her own reflection. After a few minutes of staring at Rose's horror, Mikey spoke.

"Okay...Josh do me a favor? Throw that fucking magazine in the trash?" he said, as he saw Rose's eyes darting towards the model on the cover.

"On it." said Josh, darting up the stairs. They heard tearing paper and the garbage can lid open and close. Josh came back down the stairs.

"Good." said Mikey. "Now I think it's time to talk."

He sat Rose down on her bed and sat down facing her. Josh sat next to her, rubbing her arm.

"I hate the way I look." said Rose sadly. "I wanna look like those red carpet girls. I wanna be famous and I never will be unless I look like them." Josh clicked his tongue and held her tightly. Mikey took her hand and said

"Those movie star whores? You wanna look like them? Come on Rose they look like ten year old boys!" Rose laughed and wiped a tear off her cheek.

"Yeah, ten year old boys with million dollar movie deals and all the hot guys wanna fuck them." Mikey rolled his eyes.

"Honey. You're gonna make it no matter what you look like. Sure you're no ten year old boy wannabe but its not like you're some sumo wrestler! If anyone turns you away because of your figure then fuck them alright?" he put his hand on Rose's cheek and forced her to look at him. "You are beautiful okay? Right Josh?"

"Beautiful? No. Rose is not beautiful. Rose is gorgeous. She's as pretty as...as..."

"Pretty as her mother." said a fourth voice. Rose looked up and saw Gerard standing in the doorway. "Yeah. You're the spitting image of Kayla." he walked over to her closet and pulled down her Kayla blanket. he laid it out on the floor so he could look at it. He crouched down, surveying the picture. Rose wasn't sure, but she thought she saw tears in his eyes. "Doesn't do her any kind of justice." he said, biting his lip. "Rosie come with me." Rose stood up and followed her father into his room, leaving Josh and Mikey behind. Gerard bent down and pulled three books out from under his bed. They were photo albums. He sat down on the floor and patted the spot next to him, wanting Rose to sit down next to him and look. He opened the cover of the first book and Rose realized right away that the girl in these pictures was her mother. She gasped to see that she really did look just like her. She saw one picture of Kayla sitting on a tree branch with Gerard. He was straddling the branch, leaning against the trunk, Kayla was sitting against him, also straddling the branch. He had his arms around Kayla, and she was holding his arms, almost like she was afraid to be up so high. Rose looked at her mother carefully. The blanket was all in black and white threads so she'd never got a feel for what Kayla looked like. She had long chestnut brown hair that fell down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were neon green, Rose smiled realizing that she'd gotten those eyes. Her hair was a much darker brown though, that came from Gerard. Kayla's skin was pale and flawless, much like Rose's, and her lips were a perfect shade of fuchsia. Rose put her finger lightly on the picture and traced the image of her parents in the tree.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" said Gerard.

"Yeah. And you're right. I do look like her. She's skinnier though." said Rose.

"So what?" said Gerard.

"So no one's ever gonna want me in a movie or on an album cover." whined Rose. Gerard gave her a little shove on her shoulder.

"Yes they will." he said. "You have talent Rose. And you seem to be forgetting that the perfect looking movie stars and singers have none. No one can be perfect in every way, but if I had to chose between someone talented and someone pretty for a movie, I'd go with the talent." Rose smiled. She picked up another of the photo albums and opened it. It was a wedding album. Gerard stood up suddenly. "Damn. The chicken. It's still on the stove!" Rose laughed as he ran for the stairs. He stopped at the door. "Rose, not eating isn't going to make you any thinner, but if you really wanna lose some weight, I'll sign you up for a gym membership or something. Okay?" Rose nodded. "Okay, I'll call you when lunch is ready." He ran up the stairs leaving Rose to admire her mother for the first real time.


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

A month went by and New Jersey was plunged into a snowless cold. The snow on the ground froze making roads slippery and no more snow fell to help. It went below freezing at night and didn't go much warmer in the day. Rose hated this weather so much. Demolition Lovers couldn't rehearse in the garage anymore because it was too cold. They toyed with the idea of rehearsing in another garage, but none of them had heated garages. They thought about rehearsing at school, but that was dismissed almost immediately. They finally decided to just stop practicing and put the band to rest until it got warmer. Rose was happy though. Gerard had signed her up at a New York Sports Club nearby and Rose had lost close to twenty pounds in five or six weeks. She was much happier with her figure. She was still a little plump, but not nearly as much as she was before. Dylan was noticing it too. He gave her much more compliments about how she looked whenever they went out. They were together almost every Friday and Saturday night. Dylan has asked Rose to be his girlfriend about a week after her ordeal with her weight. One Thursday in late January, the band was hanging out in Rose's family room.

"So guess what guys." said Dylan. "My birthday is next week. I'm only sixteen for nine more days."

"So what Dylan." said Stix. "You're still younger than me." Stix had turned seventeen in October.

"So what is I'm throwing the biggest underground bash this town has ever seen." my parents are going out of town on business on my actual birthday, Saturday, so we're gonna blow the roof off." said Dylan smiling. Rose jumped in his lap.

"Whose invited?" she asked, arms wrapped around his neck.

"The better question baby," he said, arms around her waist "is whose not invited."

"YES!" screamed Alex, jumping up and pumping his fist. "Can I call everyone?"

"Call everyone you know and tell them to call everyone they know. If they don't fit in the house we'll put chairs in the fucking backyard. This is gonna be the biggest party ever." Rose smiled and planted a huge kiss on Dylan. Stix rolled her eyes.

"There they go again." she said. Lately Dylan and Rose were a close competition to her and Alex. Dylan broke away.

"So you all have nine days to call everyone and tell them about Dylan's blowout starting at seven."

A week later and the list of people coming to Dylan's party was over a hundred. Dylan was sure that half the people coming were those he didn't know, and that was the exciting part. Rose and Josh were getting ready in their room. Rose's dad and uncles were out somewhere, which was good because Rose was celebrating her new figure with an outfit her dad would never let her out of the house in. She was wearing an aqua blue patent leather micro-mini with neon yellow tights. Over the yellow were hot pink fishnets. She was wearing zebra print Mary Jane's with huge heels, more than three inches. Her shirt had a thick strap over one shoulder and the other was bare. The shirt was hot pink with rhinestones all over that she'd put on herself. She'd loosely curled her hair and put it high up in a big clip. Tendrils of hair fell out over the clip in random directions that came down to about the middle of her back. Her bangs were perfectly straight and foreword on her forehead. She had purposely overdone her eyes in purple eyeliner and shadow and black mascara. Her cheeks were covered in pink blush and her lips were fire engine red. Rose stared into the mirror and admired her image. Josh was trying hard to look good too. He was meeting a guy at the party that he'd met at the dance. Josh said his name was Ian. Josh seemed very interested in this Ian. He said they'd been talking a lot in school so Josh invited him to Dylan's party. Josh was wearing his plaid girl pants and a tight black Interpol t-shirt. Over that he had a big leather jacket with a lot of zippers and pockets and chains. He had spiked his hair up with more gel than ever and had covered a few with green or purple gel. His eyes were dark with eyeliner and sparkly black shadow. He wore black platform shoes like the ones Billie Joe Armstrong used to wear. They heard Stix pull up and honk the horn of her bus and they ran upstairs and out the front door. Rose and Josh jumped into the back, eager to get to Dylan's. When Rose got in the car Stix whistled from the driver's seat.

"Hey Rose planning on selling anything at this party?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Rose's outfit. Rose rolled her eyes and said

"Just drive. I wanna get to my boyfriend."

"Testy testy." said Stix annoyed. She turned and faced foreword in her seat and pressed the gas pedal. When they got to Dylan's house they could hear the music in the house from the street. Rose could see people dancing through the windows. Dylan came running out the front door and stopped for a second when he saw Rose. He raised his eyebrows and Rose saw his Adam's apple go way up and crash back down as he gulped. He blinked a few times and walked the rest of the way to meet her. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

"Happy birthday baby!" she screamed over the noise from the house.

"Thanks" he said. "Come on, lets go inside." he took her hand and led her into the house. He took her over to a table where a big barrel was placed. _Oh god it's a keg._ She realized. Dylan got two red plastic cups, filled them both and handed one to her. He took a sip from the other one. Rose took the cup and almost gagged on the smell. Somehow she couldn't stand alcohol. The very thought gave her a headache.

"Well, you gonna drink that?" said Dylan, looking at her cup. _Play it cool Rose, play it cool. _She told herself.

"Whoa Dylan, sounds like you wanna get me drunk or something." she said, laughing and pushing his shoulder. He laughed and said

"No. Just drink. It's a party come on!" Rose took a sip and hid a wince. _This is gross. Okay this is gross. _She smiled at Dylan and took another sip. The second sip didn't taste quite as bad as the first, and the third not as bad as the second. Soon she was really used to the beer and had moved on to a second cup, and within a few minutes a third. Dylan was drinking as fast, just to keep up with her. After a fourth or fifth cup Dylan put down the cup and said

"Truce! You win!" he stumbled over to a couch and flopped down on it. Rose flopped down on his lap and he kissed her. They started making out and someone going past screamed

"GET A ROOM!" Rose and Dylan broke apart and Dylan gave the guy who'd yelled a "fuck you" glare and said to Rose

"Come on. Let's go somewhere where people aren't so RUDE." he said, standing up and taking her hand. They walked upstairs and behind each door he opened there was a couple making out or having sex or something else. Rose was a little wierded out. She'd never been to a party this wild before. She wondered to herself if Dylan was trying to find somewhere where they could become like the couples in the other rooms. Finally at the end of the hallway he pushed open the door into what looked like his parent's bedroom. He sat her down on the bed and sat next to her. He started kissing her. Rose kissed back and after a few minutes they weren't sitting anymore. Rose vaguely felt the change in altitude as her head and back hit the bed. She kept kissing Dylan. Then a voice in her head started talking. Screaming, but quietly. _Stop. Get Up._ It said. _You should not be here. You do not want to do this. Get up and go downstairs._ Rose did not get up, Rose did not go downstairs. She just kept kissing Dylan and eventually she felt his hand going down her thigh, going for the zipper on her skirt. The voice got more persistent. _NO! DON'T LET HIM DO THAT! STOP! STOP HIM!_ It screamed in her brain. Rose didn't stop him. In fact not only did she not stop Dylan, but she started going for his belt buckle. Back downstairs it was getting close to eleven o clock and the time when Josh and Rose were due home. Josh started circling the house and eventually he found Josh and Stix, but he couldn't find Rose. He decided to look upstairs. He peeked in every door and got grossed out more and more with each sight.

"Eww. Eww. Guys with girls. Gross Gross." he whined. He pushed open the last door and what he found made him stop in the doorway. "ROSE!" he screamed. Rose sat up, covering her chest.

"Josh! What the hell?" She screamed. Josh covered his eyes with his arm, completely disgusted.

"I could ask you the same question." Rose ducked under the blanket and began to get dressed again. She pulled on her clothes as fast as she could as Dylan did the same beside her. She jumped out of the bed as soon as possible, but then fell right back down, vision blurry from the booze. Josh ran over to the bed and grabbed her by the armpits, half helping her half dragging her out of the room and down the stairs. He called to Stix and Alex and they ran out with him into the bus. Stix shoved the keys into the ignition and put the pedal to the floor. As she sped off towards Josh and Rose's house she turned to Josh and said

"Is she drunk?" Josh looked down at Rose slumped against his chest and said

"I think so yeah." Rose sat up and waved her arms in front of her.

"Nope. Nope nope nope. I'm sober. I am fine. I've got everything under...under..." she fell back and Josh caught her. Rose went slightly cross-eyed and blacked out.

Rose woke up the next morning in her bed with Josh right next to her. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before. As she lay there staring at the ceiling she became aware that she had a terrible headache and this strange desire to throw up. She ran up the stairs and into the bathroom. She vomited for what seemed like an hour, only standing up when she was confident that all her internal organs were safely deposited in the toilet bowl. She flushed and tip-toed quietly back down the stairs, past her dad's room and back into hers. Josh had just woken up and was sitting bolt upright on the bed, obviously wondering where she was. His shoulders slumped down and he collapsed back onto the bed when she came into the room. She walked right past him, ignoring him completely and pulled some pajamas out of the drawer. She changed in silence, Josh just looking at her with a disappointed look in his eye. She stood there, hands on her hips and said

"You gonna tell me why you're looking at me like I killed someone?" Josh's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked, irritated.

"You mean you don't remember a thing?" he asked, shocked.

"No. I don't. What happened to me?" she asked, worried now. "Is there something I should know?" Josh let out a heavy sigh.

"Well...better you hear it from me." said Josh. He proceeded to tell Rose exactly what had happened. That she'd gotten drunk. That she'd gone upstairs with Dylan. That he'd found her in bed with Dylan. That she'd passed out in the van on the way home. Rose collapsed to the floor, running her fingers through her hair. She shook her head and rocked back and forth for a few minutes. After a few minutes she spoke in a tear choked voice.

"You mean I lost my...you mean I had...I did it with Dylan?" she asked, looking at Josh, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"That sure as hell was what it looked like." he said. "And there's not a hell of a lot of other things you could have been doing in there believe me." Rose leaned back and banged her head against the wall a few times.

"Oh god. I'm so screwed." she said. "What if my dad finds out? You aren't going to tell him are you? He didn't see us come in last night did he?" Josh shook his head.

"No he wasn't home yet when we got back, and I don't know if I'm going to tell him or not. To be honest I think YOU should tell him." he said, pointing at Rose. Rose shook her head fervently.

"No no no no no no no I can't do that. He'd kill me." Rose started sobbing. She'd really messed up this time.


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Rose didn't see Dylan that week at school. She wondered if his parents had found out about the party and grounded him even from school. But the following Saturday she got a call from him at around ten o clock. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Rose?"

"Ugh. It's you."

"Hi I missed you too?"

"Where the hell have you been all week?"  
"Heavy duty grounding. I kind of fell asleep after you left and slept straight through until my parents came home and found the huge mess. I'm stuck in my room no school no friends no band no nothing until March."

"MARCH? But its still January!"

"You've never met my parents."

"Yeah they sound pretty crazy to me."

"Ha. They are. So what did your dad do when he found out?"

"He doesn't know. He wasn't home when Josh dragged me into the house. We figured I'd be dead meat if we told him."

"No you wouldn't be. I would."

"Well at least your only grounded until March. Demolition Lovers probably won't be able to start rehearsing until late February anyway."

"Yeah probably."

"So about what actually happened up there...I don't really remember, but Josh told me and..."

"You know what? It might be better if we just, forget it happened. Don't you think? We were both drunk, okay you a little more than me, and we made a mistake. No one got hurt, so it might be easier to put it all behind us. Is that okay?"

"...Yeah that probably would be best."

"So see you in March?"

"See you in March."

The phone clicked on the other end and Rose slumped down on her bed. Something about his voice and her last memory of him made Rose honestly hate Dylan. She didn't want to hate him, but the fact that he thought it was cool to have sex with her while she was drunk made her question who he was as a person.

March came all to quickly for Rose and now she had to see Dylan again at their first rehearsal since December. She was sitting in her room with Josh, who sprung right up the stairs when he heard the doorbell ring. Rose moved slower, dreading Dylan's face. Three months and she still couldn't shake this inexplicable hatred of him and his mind. She finally reached the garage where Dylan was tuning his guitar. She came in as quietly as possible but Stix saw her.

"Hey Rose." she said. Rose glared at her, causing Stix to shrink back behind the protection of her drum set. Dylan looked up, smiled when he saw her, and put his guitar on the floor. He stood up and took her in a big hug. Rose didn't pull away, but she didn't hug him back. She just kept her arms at her sides and let Dylan hold her. When he broke away, Rose walked over and opened the automatic garage door. It was comfortably cool outside, and Rose felt very trapped all of a sudden, so she figured some fresh air would do her some good. Josh and Alex came into the garage and rehearsal began. They were in then middle of playing the old The Veronicas track "4ever". Stix helped sing because it was a two part girl song. In the middle of the song a big black Escalade pulled up in front of the garage. Rose turned to Josh who looked just as confused as she did. A man in his mid thirties stepped out of the back seat of the SUV and walked into the garage. Rose stopped singing and the guys stopped playing. The man walked right into the garage and said

"No, no, keep playing. Please." Stix smacked her drumsticks together and they started the song over. Rose kept her eyes on the stranger in the black car and he kept his eyes on her. He stood there watching her and thinking carefully. When the song was over he clapped. He just stood there clapping for a minute and then said "Wow. You kids have real talent. You." he pointed to Rose. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Um...Rose." she said, still not sure of what was going on. "And you are?" she asked. The man gasped and fumbled in his jacket for his wallet. He pulled it out and retrieved a business card. Rose read it and her jaw dropped. The card read

RICHARD STEVENS

RECORD EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

REPRISE RECORDS

"Reprise?" asked Rose, completely dumbfounded. "THE Reprise records? You guys represented my dad's band!"

"Oh did we? What band was your dad in?" asked Richard.

"Oh, um my dad is Gerard Way. You know, My Chemical Romance?"

"Oh of course Gerard. Well its clear where you got your talent from. So, how would you like to maybe consider signing with Reprise?" Rose's mouth fell open even further and she heard Josh gasp behind her. Rose nodded and said

"Demolition Lovers would be honored to..."

"No, sweetie." Richard cut her off. "I don't want Demolition Lovers." he said, looking at Rose's friends behind her. "I mean, they're a fun garage band but come on. You've got a real-deal gift there with that voice of yours. I'd want you to sign alone." Rose's face fell.

"Leave DL?" She asked. She turned around and saw the glum expressions on her friend's faces. "I couldn't. No way." Alex shook his head. He put his guitar on the stand behind him and walked over to Rose.

"Are you seriously not gonna take this because of us? Rose this is your dream being handed to you right here." he said, taking her by the shoulders. "You gotta do this hun. Don't worry about us we'll be fine. Right guys?" he said, turning to each of the other band members.

"Yeah Rosie you have to do this." said Josh nodding solomly.

"What bass boy said." added Stix with a trying to hard half smile.

"Baby you gotta go for your dreams." added Dylan. Rose blinked tears out of her eyes to hear all this support from her friends. She turned back to Richard and said

"Should I get my dad?" Richard smiled.

"Yes let's get Gerard." he said. Rose motioned him inside. Stix got up and followed.

"Stix?" said Alex. "What are you doing?" Stix sighed.

"Rose is the only girl friend I have. You think I'm not gonna be there for her when she gets her big moment? Come on. All of you. She wants you there." Alex shrugged at Dylan and Josh and they followed Stix into the family room where Richard sat. Rose was upstairs telling Gerard what was going on. He came up the stairs behind Rose with a smile so wide you could swear it was going to get bigger than his face. Richard stood up and shook hands with Gerard.

"The answer is yes, I'd just like to hear some fine points." said Gerard as he sat down in an armchair.

"Yes yes of course." said Richard. "Well, I'd want to fly her to Paris."

"PARIS?" screamed Rose.

"Yes." said Richard. "There is an awesome professional band waiting for a singer to back up. But they're currently touring instrumentally in Paris, so I'd send you there for a while. You would get used to hanging with them and you would write some material for your CD, then come back here and work with a producer to record it." Rose smiled

"That's awesome." she said. She looked at Gerard. "Dad. Can I do this?" Gerard chewed the inside of his cheek as he thought, the said.

"You realize this is gonna be a huge commitment for you. You can't back out of this." Rose nodded.

"I know. But I wanna do this. And I'll only be gone a few months."

"You also realize that there's a chance that you're not gonna get very far." said Gerard. "Hundreds of artists try and fail all the time. You may be one of them. Just know that. I don't wanna hurt you, but you need to know."

"Now how far am I gonna get if I think like that?" said Rose, giving Gerard a hug.

"That's my girl. Okay. Let her do it. She's ready."


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Rose folded her last shirt and put it carefully into her suitcase. She zipped up the opening and turned to Josh. He was just standing there watching her pack, looking like he was trying not to cry. Rose clicked her tongue and ran over to him, grabbing him in a huge hug. Josh broke right there. He cried like a baby right into her shoulder. Rose lost it too, she was very glad that she was wearing waterproof mascara. She wiped a tear from her eye and whispered.

"It's only four months. I'm only gone for four months. And I'll call you every day and tell you every word everyone said. Everywhere I went, everything I did. You'll be the first one to hear everything I write."

"Rosie I don't know what I'm gonna do here without you. Your dad's an angel letting me stay here even though you're not. And letting the band keep rehearsing here. I don't know what we'd do without Gerard."

"Oh come on. You guys are like my family. We should like, officially adopt you. You live here now, you're like his son." Josh laughed when Rose said this.

"Yeah I guess. But I think I need to tell him what a saint he is." Josh said. He glanced at the clock. 2:30. "Oh god, Rosie we have to get to the airport. Your flight leaves in two hours. Rose looked at the clock.

"Oh my god you're right." she grabbed her suitcase and she and Josh ran up the stairs. Josh ran up to the second floor and called Frank, Gerard, Mikey, Ray, and Bob. They all came down pulling on their jackets and shoes. Everyone hopped into Gerard's black van and they swung to Dylan, Stix, and Alex's houses, them all jumping into the back with Rose and Josh. By the time they got to the airport the five friends were all in a dog pile, hugging Rose.

"I can't breathe!" she choked out, Stix's elbow in her stomach. They all hopped off her and out of the van as Gerard parked. Dylan insisted on carrying her suitcase. Rose swung her carry on backpack over her shoulder and held Dylan's hand as they walked through the door. "Next plane out of here." she mumbled to herself. Dylan's grip on her hand got tighter. She looked up at him and saw him bite his lip and swallow hard. "Dylan. Baby, I'm only gonna be gone for four months. I'll call you. I'll e-mail you all the time. My dad got me a laptop as a going away present. Come on it'll be like I'm not even gone." she stopped walking and put her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"But you WILL be gone." he chocked out. Rose stood on tiptoe and kissed him hard. "I'm gonna miss you so much." he said sadly.

"I'm gonna miss you too. I'm gonna miss everyone so much. But I'll be back before you know it. I promise." Dylan scrunched up his face to avoid it, but a single tear leaked out of his eye. Rose wiped it from his face with her thumb.

"Rose. We gotta go meet Rich." said Gerard, breaking the moment. Rich was meeting them by the gate to introduce Rose to a girl named Jamie. Jamie was fluent in French and had spent most of her life in Paris, because her dad was stationed there for a few years for the army. so she was partly Rose's translator, partly her tour guide, and the only American girl her age she'd be seeing in Paris. Rose got through baggage check without a hitch and off they went to gate 32. As they approached the gate, Rose heard the early boarding call for the Paris flight. Her flight. As she got closer to the gate she saw Rich, he waved to her, and a girl next to her waved too. The girl ran from Rich's side and over to Rose. Rose knew immediately it was Jamie. She had long wavy blonde hair, green eyes a little duller than her own, and a very rosy complexion. When she spoke, her voice was high pitched and very friendly.

"Hey. I'm Jamie. Jamie Krauss. You're Rose right?" Rose smiled and nodded.

"Yeah that's me. Nice to meet you Jamie." Jamie smiled a very warm smile. They both looked up to the ceiling as a more urgent boarding call was made for the flight.

"Better say your goodbyes." said Jamie, looking at the big group behind Rose. _Goodbyes._ thought Rose. She hadn't really prepared herself for saying goodbye to everyone. They all rushed forwards at once. She hugged Frank, then Bob, then Ray. They backed up and gave her blood relatives room. Mikey squeezed her tight. He kissed the top of her head and whispered

"Keep in touch." Rose nodded and Mikey broke away. Gerard hugged her and he picked her up off the ground, not wanting to let go of his daughter.

"Don't let Paris change you okay baby?" he said. "We're gonna miss you so much. You took one of the photo books right?"

"Of course." said Rose. "Wouldn't leave without it."

"Good." said Gerard, putting her down. "Love you sweetie."

"Love you too dad." she said, tears filling her eyes. Stix came up to her and said

"You're gonna bring me back a great souvenir right?" Rose laughed and nodded. Stix then completely gave up the hard act and hugged Rose tight. "Come back real soon. I'm stuck with these nimrods until you come home." Rose laughed and said

"Four months won't kill you, just try not to kill them. And keep Dylan warm for me until I get back."

"Will do." said Stix, as she let go. Alex came next. He gave her a hug stronger than she expected.

"You better come back girl." he said. He released her quickly and then came Dylan. He opened his mouth to say something but Rose didn't want to hear goodbye from him, she grabbed his face and kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around her and they only broke apart when they heard the final boarding call. Rose quickly hugged Josh and said

"I'll miss you sweetie. Do NOT cover my room in Chad Michael Murray posters while I'm gone."

"Damn." he laughed. "That killed my plans. Oh well. I'll live." Rose smiled and Jamie said.

"Okay Rose we really gotta go." Rose nodded and walked slowly through the gate with Jamie. They showed their tickets and headed through the tunnel into the plane. Rich had paid for first class tickets, and this was one of those planes where the seats became beds. There were individual TVs in the back of each seat, but for Rose and Jamie they were in the wall because Rich had made sure their seats were in the front of the plane where they wouldn't have to deal with losing leg room as the night went on, with seats leaning back. Rose settled into her seat and clicked on her I-pod. She slid open the shade on her window and watched the ground get farter and farther away as the plane took off. She stared down at the ever shrinking ground and began to feel a little sick. She shut she shade and closed her eyes, just letting herself fall into the music coming through her headphones. "4ever" by The Veronicas. She closed her eyes to hold back tears at the thought that the people she'd spent her entire life with she wouldn't see for the next four months. Then Rose remembered she had a thirteen track CD to write, and decided that this emotion was perfect to turn into a song. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her new blank notebook and a pen. She stuck the tip of her pen into her mouth and chewed on it, rolling it between her teeth. Every now and then she'd jot down a lyric that came to her mind. Jamie turned away from the screen in the wall to see what Rose was putting down. She smiled. Rose pulled the headphones out of her ears to hear what Jamie was saying.

"Those are good rhymes. Gonna string them into a song?"

"Definitely." said Rose. "I mean, I'm a little sad leaving my family behind so I'd better use what I have." Jamie gave her a thumbs up as Rose put her headphones back in. Rose felt a little happier knowing that she was getting a song done, but then quickly shook the happy out of her head realizing that that would kill the mood of the song.


End file.
